The youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has rejected the National Census Committee formed by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The presidency had through a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, (Information & Strategy) to President Tinubu announced the inauguration of a high-level committee on the forthcoming national population and housing census.
Nigeria’s last census was in 2006, nearly two decades ago. It recorded a population of 140,431,790, with 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, will chair the Presidential Committee.
Other members are the Minister of Information, Muhammed Idris, the National Population Commission (NPC) Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, who will also serve as the committee Secretary, as well as the the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Principal Private Secretary to the President, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff).
Reacting, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike said the Committee was skewed against other sections of the country in favour of the South-West.
Okwu said census was a very sensitive matter, adding that every process pertaining to it must be seen to be fair to all the regions of the country.
In a statement he made available to journalists on Monday, Okwu noted that “we have waited to see whether the presidency will do the needful, but the situation remains the same nearly two weeks after that one-sided committee was inaugurated.
“Nigerians are aware of the issues that always trailed past census figures and we expect that for once, the country should get it right.
“It is, however, regrettable that the current government has started on the wrong footing by appointing a committee that is totally dominated by people of the South-East, yet it tagged it National Committee.
“We state clearly that there is nothing national about that committee as it completely nenages the principle of federal character, just like most appointments done so far by the current government.
“This is totally unacceptable and we urge Mr President to either disband the committee it or expand it to accommodate other regions of the country,” Okwu stated.
He added that Census should not be handled like other actions of the current administration, stressing “we are not going to accept allocation of figures to Ndigbo.”