The House of Representatives has called for the suspension of the planned population and housing census, until a time the security of the country is stabilised.
While mandating its relevant committee to inquire in to the work plans of the National Population Commission with regards the coming census exercise, the House on Wednesday, invited the Chairman of the National Population Commission to clarify as to the feasibility of concluding census in the face of the ongoing insecurity across the country.
This came following adoption of a motion, sponsored under matters of urgent public importance, by Hon. Shelia Beji, noting that the current state of insecurity in Nigeria has displaced numerous citizens who are dwellers of various communities expected to be captured in the exercise.
The process leading to the exercise had commenced, with Enumeration Area Demarcations (EADs) already concluded in some states.
However, the lawmaker observed that some displaced persons have crossed over to neighbouring countries for refuge and cannot be captured if the census is to be conducted as planned, adding that that “with the overwhelming security challenges at hand, expecting accuracy in any census conducted now would be like passing an elephant through the eyes of a needle”.
He argued that large chunck of Nigerians have fled their homes, while many others are being held captive by kidnapers. “As such, conducting such census without them means infringing on their constitutional rights”, he said.
He further expressed worries that “posting enumerators or adhoc staff to volatile areas of the nation in the name of conducting census is irrational, as it would be like giving them out to criminals, adding that it may also amount to waste of resources, “as the outcome will be inconsequential”.
