2023 Census Now To Hold Between May 3 And 5

The 2023 National Population and Housing Census will now hold between May 3 and 5, 2023.

Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr. Garba Abari announced the new date at a news conference in Abuja.

The exercise was shifted to May 3, 4 and 5, from the original date due to the postponement of the governorship and state houses of assembly polls from March 11 to March 18.

“That change by INEC made it mandatory for us to also adjust the date for the conduct of the exercise,” Abari said.

He described the census and the 2023 elections as major national events with significant importance which had earlier been planned to hold not too far away from each other.

“The census had to be put forward from the initial date of March 29 to April 2nd, now to May 3rd to 5th.

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“There are two things that informed the shift in date. First, in the cause of our planning by the National Population Commission, it was so factored that INEC will also tinker with its own electoral timetable.

“The gubernatorial election as you are aware had to be shifted by one week. And this also has a telling effects on the date of commencement of the census.

“Just like election, the Census is also a very long process like the training, the sub-trainings, retraining leading till the very day of the actual house listing and numbering will commence and then the actual capture of the population will now take place.

“So, these actually are the things we are looking forward to in the preparations for the national census,’’ Abari said.

Abari, who is a member of the publicity and advocacy of the exercise, said every person, households and structures would be enumerated during the exercise for the planning of projects and  execution.