The opposition has accused the Federal Government of failing to account for the N234bn disbursed for the aborted national census, alleging that the funds were diverted to finance the 2023 election campaign.
Under former President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Population Commission had proposed a budget of approximately N800bn for the 2023 Population and Housing Census. By May 2023, N224bn had already been released for the exercise, alongside N10bn approved in October 2020 for Enumeration Area Demarcation across 546 Local Government Areas.
Initially scheduled for May 2023, the census was postponed to allow the incoming administration to provide input. However, 17 months into President Bola Tinubu’s tenure, no new date has been announced, sparking concerns over the implications for governance, economic planning, and resource allocation.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the funds. Speaking with The PUNCH, he alleged that the money allocated for the census under the Buhari administration was misappropriated to influence the 2023 elections.
Ifoh said, “In the last eight years of Muhammadu Buhari, this issue of census has come up, and we have never seen it happen. Most of the years, the money released for census matters either just fly away or get swallowed by snakes. Yet, we have never seen any census conducted.
“In a saner clime, census is held every five years or thereabouts. But in Nigeria, it takes about 10 or 20 years to conduct one. Again, in the case of Nigeria, monies are budgeted almost every year.
“Now, if that chunk of money was released a few months before the election but failed to hold and nobody accounted for it, it does not take anyone to decipher why the money disappeared. It was obviously used to execute the election, and the person in charge of the population census has not come out to tell us what happened to the money.
“Has the money been returned to the Central Bank or is it cooling in one house? We expect the security agencies to demand and request the money. What has happened to it? If the money has not been used or appropriated, it should be returned to the coffers of the Federal Government.”
In response, the ruling All Progressives Congress dismissed the allegations, describing them as baseless. The Deputy National Organising Secretary of the APC, Nze Duru, insisted that the census programme remains a priority for the current administration.
He explained, “I do not see any concern. I believe that is something that will happen, and I know it will happen shortly. We cannot have any provision in the budget without capturing the population of the country and where the people are resident. So, it’s something that we require, and I know efforts are ongoing to ensure it happens.
“We cannot continue to play politics with critical data that is required to enable the government to provide comprehensively and adequately for the people of this country. Do we need a population census to know the demography and numbers of Nigerians today? Yes, we do. But should it be an event? I do not think so.
“I believe it is something that must be updated hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly. We should not wait for an event, a particular time, to determine the number of Nigerians in the country. The population is so critical for data, budgeting, and provisioning of what Nigerians need.
“In providing the dividends of democracy, we cannot afford not to have that data done. There should not be any hullabaloo about it. It is something that can’t even be done without setting a milestone or a deadline on when this can be done.”
Despite these reassurances, the lack of a clear plan or timeline for the census continues to generate concerns among stakeholders. Observers argue that a timely and transparent population census is crucial for effective governance and equitable resource allocation.