The House of Representatives has asked the Federal Government to suspend the planned population census.
The decision followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Barwa Shehu from Niger State.
He argued that conducting a census under the present security situation will produce inaccurate data as several Nigerians have been displaced due to kidnappers.
He warned that deploying census ad hoc staff to volatile regions is like giving bandits and kidnappers data to continue their criminal activities.
“Some displaced persons have crossed over to other neighbouring countries and cannot be captured.
“A large chunk of Nigerians are living under the siege of kidnappers.
“Posting ad hoc staff to volatile areas is like giving data to bandits and criminals. This will amount to a waste of resources,” he said
The lawmaker also said that the incoming general election also put the accuracy of the census into question, and called for the suspension of the census until the country is stabilized.
When the motion was put to question, the “ayes” had it.
