The Senate appropriation chair, however, assured that the committee would search the 2024 budget for money to cover the planned population census
The Senate was taken aback by a revelation that there was no provision for the scheduled 2024 population and housing census in the budget proposal of the National Population Commission (NPC).
This was disclosed by Chairman, Senate Committee on National Population Commission, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP Bauchi Central) who informed the lawmakers about the development while presenting a report on the NPC 2024 budget to the Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday.
According to Ningi, the NPC has spent about N200 billion and if the funds for the census were not included in the budget, the spening would result in a loss.
He, however, informed the committee that NPC would present its documentation on Wednesday regarding the amount required to carry out the population census in 2024.
Ningi said: “They will appear on Wednesday with proper documentation of how much they need. If we don’t get the money, the nation will lose. The money spent for the preparation for the census will go down the drain and it is a homogenous amount of money, over N200 billion already spent; that is my take.”
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Reacting to this report, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (APC, Ogun West), gave Ningi the assurance that the committee would search the budget for money to cover the 2024 population census
In order to discuss the necessary steps for the conduct of the census, which was set to take place in the first quarter of next year, he further urged that the head of the agency appear along with the chairman of the committee to discuss a way forward.
He said: “The head of the NPC should appear in company with the committee chairman to tell them what was needed for the conduct of the census, which was scheduled to take place in the first quarter of next year.
“Let me assure you that the country will not lose and we are going to work very closely with them that a 25 per cent component is included, we must find a way to accommodate it in this 2024 budget.
“We would like the agency to appear along with the chairman of the committee, with a synopsis of the idea of what is going on about the issue of the census and whatever the issues are, I can assure you that we will resolve it and the population census will come up by the first quarter of 2024.”
