NPC Proposes N532.7bn For 2023 Population Census

The National Population Commission (NPC), on Wednesday, declared that N532.7billion will be needed by it to conduct population census in April 2023.

Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra, made the disclosure to members of the Senate Committee on National Population and Identity Management during 2023 budget defence session before the committee.

The N532.7billion, according to the NPC boss, was purely estimates for the conduct of the 2023 census exercise, which he said would be digitally carried out.

“Aside the N10billion budgetary proposal for 2023 fiscal year earmarked for NPC, the sum of N532.795,604,726 is estimated for conduct of 2023 Census.

“NPC is ready to re-write the history of census in Nigeria by making the 2023 one not only accurate, credible, reliable but acceptable to all Nigerians,” he said.

He added that the proposed sum for covers post-enumeration survey and that the exercise will be a great departure from the past in terms of keying into the issue of climate change.

In the 2023 budgetary proposal for the Commission, Kwarra said the envelope of N1.05billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, N655million for overhead and N8.6billion for personnel cost.

For the ongoing 2022 fiscal year, the NPC boss said a total of N206.85billion was appropriated for the commission out which N107.7billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, N615million for overhead and N7.8billion for personnel cost.

However, the chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Sahabi Ya’u (APC, Zamfara North), told the NPC chairman to furnish the committee with details of projects executed with its 2022 budget and those proposed for the 2023 fiscal year.

Earlier, a request by the NPC helmsman to decorate chairman and members of the Senate Committee as 2023 Census Ambassadors was, however, turned down by the lawmakers.