The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has expressed its rejection of the National Census Committee recently set up by President Bola Tinubu.
The presidency had earlier announced the establishment of a high-level committee to oversee preparations for the upcoming National Population and Housing Census.
However, in a statement on Monday, the National President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, criticized the composition of the committee, claiming it heavily favoured the South-West region at the expense of other parts of the country.
Okwu emphasized the importance of fairness in matters related to the census, noting that it is a “very sensitive matter” and insisting that “every process pertaining to it must be seen to be fair to all the regions of the country.”
Nigeria’s last national census was conducted in 2006, recording a total population of 140,431,790, comprising 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females.
The newly inaugurated committee is chaired by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu.
Other members include the Minister of Information, Muhammed Idris; the National Population Commission (NPC) Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, who also serves as Secretary; the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC); the Principal Private Secretary to the President; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff).
Okwu stated: “We have waited to see whether the presidency will do the needful, but the situation remains the same nearly two weeks after that one-sided committee was inaugurated.”
“Nigerians are aware of the issues that always trailed past census figures and we expect that for once, the country should get it right.”
He continued: “It is, however, regrettable that the current government has started on the wrong footing by appointing a committee that is totally dominated by people of the South-East, yet it tagged it National Committee.”
“We state clearly that there is nothing national about that committee as it completely nenages the principle of federal character, just like most appointments done so far by the current government.”
“This is totally unacceptable and we urge Mr President to either disband the committee or expand it to accommodate other regions of the country.”
Okwu further stressed that the census must not be conducted like other activities attributed to the present administration. He warned, “we are not going to accept allocation of figures to Ndigbo.”
