President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the postponement of the 2023 national census to a date to be determined by the incoming administration.
The 2023 population and housing census was earlier scheduled to commence on May 3 and end on May 7, 2023.
The postponement was communicated in a press statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Saturday.
According to the Minister, the President gave the approval after meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council and a team from the National Population Commission, NPC, led by its chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.
Notwithstanding the postponement, President Buhari directed the NPC to continue with the preparations for the conduct of the census to “sustain the gains already recorded and provide the basis for the incoming administration to consolidate these achievements.”
This would be the second time the exercise would be postponed. Initially expected to kick off on March 29, it was shifted to May 3 due to the postponement of the gubernatorial and state assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from March 11 to March 18.
With the latest development, it is clear that President Buhari has hands-off the conduct of the 2023 census and that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, who is expected to be sworn-in in a couple of weeks, would conduct the exercise.
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