The Nigeria government calls for funding for its 2023 population and housing census exercise

• The federal government of Nigeria has asked for donations to run its 2023 population and housing census. 
• The government disclosed that a total of 869 billion ($1.8 billion) is required for the exercise. 
• The government also noted that this project has been delayed for over 6years now. 

The Federal Government of Nigeria intends to set up a basket fund to gather donations for the 2023 population and housing census, according to Clem Agba, the country’s Minister of State for Budget and National Planning.

He said this on Monday in the country’s capital city, Abuja, during a high-level partners engagement to solicit assistance for the census of 2023. He also disclosed that N869 billion ($1.8 billion) is required in total, of which N291.5 ($632 million) billion has been promised by the government, with the remaining N327.2 billion ($709.9 million) needed.

“The total requirement for the census (including post-census activities) is N869bn ($1.88bn): census requirement is N626bn ($1.36bn) which is about $6 per capita (just slightly above the threshold of up to $5 per capita); Post-Census (up to 2025) is N243bn ($527m),” the minister stated.

“So far, the government has committed N291.5bn ($632m) to the census, making it 46% of total funding for the census. An Additional (immediate) sum of N327.2bn ($709.9m) is required to complete the census,” he added.

The Minister also said that the census exercise was originally slated to take place this year but was postponed to March 2023 despite a proposal that it takes place in May 2023.

“The last census in Nigeria was conducted in 2006. In 2014, the previous government proposed another census for 2016 in line with the UN recommendation for the Decennial census,” Clem Agba said.

“In 2018/2019, the government recommitted to the conduct of the census. In 2020, Covid-19 disrupted plans for the exercise. The census was rescheduled for March 2023 but is now recommended to hold in May 2023. In 2021/2022, funds were appropriated for the Census. The Census was initially planned for 2022, but was moved to 2023, after the elections,” he added.

The United Nations Population Fund, which is also providing the National Population Commission with technical and financial support, will be in charge of managing the basket fund.

The minister exhorted people in the private sector to make monetary contributions or volunteer to pay for part of the supplies required for the census.

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