NPC seeks law making census compulsory every 10 years

The National Population Commission on Wednesday advocated for the promulgation of a law making the conduct of census compulsory every 10 years in Nigeria.
Nduka Arinzechi, Acting Director, Population Management, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
Arinzechi explained that the law would override the presidential proclamation, which had been the practice.
He said the law would make the conduct of census constitutionally mandatory just like general elections.
He said: “We had our last census 14 years ago.
“At the moment, we in the population commission are ready for census, but we are waiting for the president’s proclamation.”
The Director, who said there would be international conference on census by April, called for support of Nigerians.
He expressed optimism on the capability of the conference to yield results through the international interactions and ideas on census.
Arinzechi emphasised the imperatives of census, which, according to him, are paramount for national planning as well as citizens’ profiling.
According to him: “Our census is long overdue.
“Therefore, it has affected almost all sectors of system, thereby slowing national planning.”