The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Wednesday said that the 2023 Population and Housing Census, earlier scheduled for March 29, has been shifted to May 2023.
The Minister disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa in Abuja.
He explained that the decision to reschedule the census was a result of the last week’s decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to reschedule the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections to March 18.
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He also disclosed that the Council approved the sum of N2.8 billion for the National Population Commission, NPC, to procure some software to be used for the conduct of the census.
According to him, “There was a memo presented by the National Population Commission, seeking for some software to allow them to conduct the census in May this year. I believe because of the reschedulement of the elections, they cannot commence the census as scheduled.
“They sought Council’s approval for a contract to procure software for the census at the sum of N2.8bn.”
