The Nigerian government has confirmed that the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will begin on May 3, 2023.
Garba Abari, a member of the publicity and advocacy committee for the 2023 Population and Housing Census, confirmed this at a press conference held in Abuja on Sunday 26 March 2023.
He said the three-day exercise will begin on May 3 and finish nationwide on May 5.
Abari, executive director of the National Orientation Authority (NOA), explained that the census records every person, household and structure for the purposes of national planning and project implementation.
According to him, the date change was due to the postponement of the 2023 gubernatorial and general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “With this change by INEC, it has become imperative that we also adjust the dates on which we conduct the exercises,” he said.
He explained that the census and the 2023 election are very important major national events that were previously planned not to be held so far apart.
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“The census originally was previously scheduled to be held from March 29th to April 2nd, but now it had to be postponed to May 3rd to he May 5th.
“There are two things that influenced the date shift. First, our plan by the National Population Commission allows for INEC to adjust its own election schedule as well. “As you know, the gubernatorial election had to be postponed for a week, and that has important implications for the date the census begins.
“Like the election, the census is a very long process. Training, sub-training and re-training begin till the day of the actual house listing and numbering, followed by the actual census of the population.
“So it’s actually something we look forward to as we prepare for the Census,” he said.
Regarding readiness, D-G described it as an important event to ensure the country is ready to launch the exercise and to support the implementation of national plans and development projects. According to him, the census is very important because it brings development, planning, security, infrastructure development, education, health, and other demographic considerations all together.
The last held a census in Nigeria was conducted in 2006.
