Altercation with Kwakwanso: Presidency queries NPC boss

Piqued by the altercation between Governor Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano State and the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Festus Odimegwu, the Presidency on Tuesday queried the NPC chairman.
The Eagle Online gathered that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, issued the query.
It was learnt that the Presidency felt embarrassed that an appointed chairman of a Commission could engage a democratically-elected governor in war of words on the pages of newspapers.
Governor Kwakwanso had on Friday told President Goodluck Jonathan that they were not happy with the position of the NPC chairman, rubbishing the last census.
He disclosed this to State House correspondents after the meeting with the President, describing Odimegwu’s appointment as “a mistake”.
He said, “I was invited by the President and I had very fruitful discussions with him. I also raised the issue of the Chairman of the National Population Commission headed by Festus Odimegwu.
“And we are not happy about that appointment, and think that it was a mistake. Odimegwu shouldn’t be there in the first place, because, when we were together, somebody read his CV.
“Even if it was wrong, he now has good opportunity to correct but instead of doing that, he has been running around to discredit the 2006 census. That means he is trying to kill that one.
“And in our own opinion, as long as he is there, he has already killed the 2016 census before it starts. And I believe that is not correct and that is not fair.”
Apparently not happy with this, Odimegwu, through the NPC Chairman of Public Affairs Committee, Oluseyi Aderinokun-Olusanya, reacted.
He said: “The governor’s call for the sack of NPC chairman was diversionary, ill-advised and a reckless attempt to politicize the yet-to-be conducted 2016 census.”
Aderinokun-Olusanya stated further: “While it may be understandable that Governor Kwankwaso feels threatened because Kano State had the highest population figures in 2006 census, however, Odimegwu’s comment on the inaccuracies in past censuses was not in reference to the population of Kano or any part of the country.
“He has consistently maintained that the falsification of figures during the 2006 census took place in every part of the country.
“It is curious that Kwankwaso had suddenly realised that the appointment of Eze Festus Odimegwu as chairman of NPC was a ‘mistake’ when in a personally signed letter dated June 28, 2013, the governor had solicited the technical assistance of the Odimegwu-led Commission for the Kano State house-numbering and street-naming and provision of identity card project.
“How come this due recognition of NPC technical competence suddenly turned into a call for the removal of its chairman?”