Nigeria’s 2023 National Population and Housing Census has been rescheduled for May 2023.

The Minister for Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council.

This decision was due to the postponement of the 2023 Gubernatorial elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission from March 11th to March 18th, 2023. 

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.

Since 2006, Nigeria has not conducted a comprehensive population and housing Census. 

According to estimates by the United Nations, Nigeria’s population is pegged at over 200m, and this remains a challenge for planning as the accurate data is not tenable. 

The Minister of State, Finance, Budget and National Planning Prince Clement Agba at a partners’ forum for the National Population Commission, NPC stated that a total of N869bn will be required to execute the Census exercise.

With the rescheduling of the Census exercise, it is expected that the NPC will re-strategize and deliver a tech-driven and credible exercise.