Nigerian Senate vows to push for conduct of census in 2025

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The Senate has vowed to push for the conduct of a national population census in 2025.

The lawmakers made this resolution on Tuesday during a budget defense session with the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra.

The Chairman of the Committee on National Identity Management and Population, Abdul Ningi, said the lawmakers would not rest on their oars until a census is conducted before the end of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Ningi disclosed that the Senate was preparing to meet with Tinubu to stress the urgency of conducting the census in 2025.

“We will soon engage the President on this matter and formally write to him through the Senate President, highlighting the need for a census this year,” he said.

Similarly, Senator Olalere Oyewunmi underscored the importance of pressuring the President to prioritise the census.

Also, Senator Diket Plang decried the country’s reliance on estimated population figures, which he said hampers effective planning.

“It’s disheartening that we are still working with estimates in this modern age. How can we plan without knowing the exact population?

“It’s sad that 2024 passed without achieving 90 percent performance. According to him, we need to know our population, urging for a definitive count by 2025,” he said.

According to the Population Commission boss, the census budget is yet to be finalised, as they plan to integrate a biometric component into the process.

“We are waiting to incorporate the biometric aspect into this year’s budget and conduct a test run before meeting with the President.

“The President prefers a biometric model for the headcount, moving away from the conventional approach,” he said.