The Federal Government has disclosed that the 2023 population and housing census earlier scheduled for March 29 has been shifted to May.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known to newsmen at the end of the meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
According to him, the council approved N2.8 billion for the National Population Commission (NPC), to procure some software to be used for the conduct of the census.
“There was a memo presented by the NPC, seeking for some software to allow them conduct the census in May this year.
“I believe because of the rescheduling of the elections, they cannot commence the census as scheduled.
“They sought council’s approval for a contract to procure software for the census at the sum of N2.8 billion,” he said.
The Minister said the decision was necessitated by the postponement of the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from March 11 to March 18.
