Speaker Abbas Tajudeen says that a national census was long overdue to establish the actual population of the country.
Abass, who spoke when the board and management of the National Population Commission (NPC) paid a courtesy visit, decried the delay in the conduct of the national head count, saying it would have established the country’s numerical strength.
The speaker expressed support for an order by President Bola Tinubu that NPC should conduct a biometric census.
He expressed readiness to meet with Tinubu after liaising with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the matter.
Abbas said, “It is unacceptable for a country as big as Nigeria to stay for 19 years without conducting a population census.”
He stated that a head count exercise would dispel critics’ doubts about the country’s exaggerated population.
Abass also pointed out that the NPC budget was inadequate to conduct a successful head count; he said the federal government may consider other sources of funds, including the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
