The House of Representatives on Monday expressed concerns regarding the readiness of the National Population Commission (NPC) to conduct a population and housing census nationwide.
The lawmakers, during a review of the 2024 budget performance, raised concerns about discrepancies in the documents submitted by the NPC Chairman, Mr Nasiru Kwara, for the 2024 budget performance review.
The document, titled 2023 Census Strategy and Implementation Plan, revealed that N841.97bn was allocated for the 2023 census to cover pre-enumeration, enumeration, and post-enumeration activities.
The 2024 Appropriation for the Commission amounted to N12.77bn, with N1.13bn for capital expenditure, N818.93bn for overhead, and N10.82bn for personnel costs.
Kwara disclosed that N1.1bn of the capital expenditure had been released and fully utilised (representing 97.38 per cent), with a balance of N29.54m.
However, Lagos lawmaker Okey Onuakalusi challenged the NPC Chairman, questioning the accuracy of the capital expenditure performance report, especially regarding anticipatory funds. He raised concerns about how such funds should be accounted for and whether the performance figures provided were correct.
The NPC proposed a capital expenditure of N18.28bn for 2025, including funds for the census, vehicle procurement, office construction, and expansion of registration centres.
The lawmakers criticised the Commission for presenting what they deemed an “abysmally low” capital expenditure proposal for the 2025 fiscal year.
Kwara also provided updates on the delayed 2023 census, revealing that the Commission was 80 per cent ready for the exercise before it was postponed by the previous administration. He explained that preparations were ongoing, and new rules for the 2030 census round were being considered.