Lawrence Olaoye 
Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Kwarra, has said that the Commission has yet to be given a new date for the conduct of the National Population and Housing Census. Kwara made this disclosure yesterday in an interaction with newsmen after 17 Commissioners of the Commission were sworn-in by President Bola Tinubu ahead of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa.
He said the Commission had made recommendations to the President and was awaiting his approval. Asked when the census was likely to be held, the NPC boss said: “No date has been approved for us yet but we have made recommendations to Mr President and we are awaiting his approval.” Speaking on the importance of the swearing in of the Commissioners, Kwarra said, the oath taking marked a critical step in assisting the Commission to carry on the preparation for the conduct of the census.
“Today, we witnessed the swearing in of 17 commissioners. Last two weeks, we had one from Lagos State. We still have three more outstanding to make the full commission. So we like to seize the opportunity to thank Mr. President for this appointment and for making sure that there’s no vacuum created in the Commission. “This marks a critical step in assisting the commission to carry on the preparation for the conduct of the census”.
On how the new appointment will impact on the task head, Kwarra said: “It actually positions us very well in the preparation for the census. You know it’s a national thing, so we have to be in every state of the federation, preparing for the census. If we don’t have a Commissioner from that state, the pace for the preparation for the census will slow down because the director in the state alone cannot handle it.” Nine of the newly sworn-in Commissioners were re-appointed and inaugurated for the second term while eight others freshly appointed were also sworn-in.
The Senate had recently confirmed 17 out of the 19 NPC commissioners nominated by the President on February 21, 2023, after the adoption of the screening report of the Committee on National Identity Card and Population at the Committee of the Whole.
