The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Kwarra, on Thursday, revealed that President Bola Tinubu will announce the new date for the national population and housing census that was postponed last April.
This followed a meeting with the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja where the Commission provided him an update on its activities so far.
Briefing correspondents after the meeting, Kwarra said the Commission has submitted its report to the president who will take a decision on the new date after studying it.
The NPC boss affirmed that the Commission, which has already expended N100 billion from the N200 billion requested so far, is likely to incur additional expenses because of the delay in the conduct of the exercise.
On the meeting with the president, he said: “We briefed him fully on the level of our preparedness, the outcomes that we envisage and I’ll like to say that Mr President has graciously approved to support the Commission in the conduct of census and our preparatory activities, though we’re not stuck at all, but he has given us the courage and the impetus to upscale our preparation.
“So, we’ll continue our preparations and we’ll hear from him eventually, the date that the census will take place because we’ve made a submission to him that he will study before getting back to us.
“But as for the assurance of support, he has given that to us and we thank him immensely for this for also realizing the importance of data for the purpose of national planning and development.”