‘Proper planning required’ – Obi backs Buhari on postponement of national census

The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has declared his support for the postponement of the 2023 national census by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari had on Friday approved the postponement of the census after a meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa-Kwarra, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who announced the development in a statement on Saturday, said the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu would set a new date for the exercise.

Obi, who reacted to the development in a series of tweets on his Twitter page, described the postponement as a welcome development.

He wrote: “Even though Nigeria is long overdue for a census, conducting one requires proper planning and diligence to ensure the sanctity of the results; the efficacy of the data gathered therefrom, as well as their utility in driving national development goals.

“Looking at our living standards and growing national housing deficits, it is hoped that when eventually the census is conducted, it will serve as confidence-building measures instead of being fraught with the usual controversy.”

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