The commissioner, National Population Commission in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon Joseph Shazin-Kwali, has said the commission had finalised plans to ensure accuracy in data gathering ahead of the national census.
Shazin, who stated this during an interaction with journalists in Abuja, disclosed that the commission in its effort to ensure accurate data, had carried out Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in the 36 states of the federation, adding that it was done in 18 phases between 2008 and 2023 and had been updated on several occasions.
He said: “Censuses conducted in years past were simply to count families. In this case we are counting and numbering houses; this process also includes listing these houses through the Enumeration Area Demarcation process.
“As it stands, the method of gathering data has now been digitized, replacing the manual process and this will ensure data are well captured.
“Field workers will capture data on a device and send directly to a server.
Plans are also in place to ensure adequate monitoring by experts in quality assurance who are on board to ensure data are well captured on the field in conformity with what is expected.”
He said all arrangements had been finalised for the census except for final training before field workers are deployed, adding that functionaries had been trained in this regard.
“For instance, AMAC alone has 6,000 enumeration areas and as such to deploy people to cover AMAC, it’s important to take this number into cognisance in assigning the number of field workers,” Shazin said.
The commissioner explained that following the postponement of the census, the commission had now briefed President Bola Tinubu on the progress so far.
While adding that the commission had also requested additional funding to proceed, he noted that the president would decide when to make a proclamation based on his prerogative on the census and fix a new date.
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