‘Buhari to make proclamation on census soon’
National Population Commission (NPC) has confirmed that Nigeria’s population figure is officially 206 million.
The Chairman NPC, Nasir Kwarra, disclosed this yesterday while addressing reporters in Abuja on the commencement of the next Enumeration Area Demarcation.
The NPC boss noted that since Nigeria had not been able to hold a census in the last 14 years, it would be difficult to know the exact population of the country.
He said: “In the absence of actual census, we formally do projections and we have all along been doing our projections and we estimate that as of 2020, the estimated population of Nigeria is 206 million.”
Asked when the next population census will take place, Kwarra said President Muhammadu Buhari had the sole right to announce it.
President Buhari had approved N10 billion in October for the NPC to continue its Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in 540 local government areas across the country.
Announcing the commencement of the EAD, Kwarra said about 260 of the 774 local government areas in the country had been fully demarcated.
He added: “Planning for census is anchored on the EAD for estimating human and material resources required for the census. In essence, the success of a credible and accurate census depends very much on the quality and reliability of the EAD.”
