The Governor of Benue State Samuel Ortom has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for the postponement of the proposed 2023 national population census.
According to The Informant247, President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday April 29 postponed the forthcoming national population census.
The Informant247 also learned that the census exercise was expected to take place between May 3 and 5 across the federation.
The postponement of the census exercise was announced by the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed in a statement released on Saturday April 29.
He said the incoming government to be led by the president elect Senator Bola Tinubu will determine the new date for the census exercise.
Governor Ortom took to Twitter to react to the new development, saying that the president listened to “voice of reason”.
He explained that a national population census “at this time would’ve been an injustice to millions of Nigerians who have been displaced and are in IDP camps across the country”.
The Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere earlier spoke against the earlier planned date for the national census, describing the timing as “inauspicious”.
Afenifere added that the “citizens are still incensed and distraught by the trauma of violence and brigandage of the elections”.
The Informant247 also recalls that the Benue State Government earlier called for the suspension of the National Population and Housing Census scheduled for May 2023.
This was revealed by the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on Tuesday April 25, saying many communities and people would be left out if the census exercise is conducted as scheduled.
The Governor of the State, Samuel Ortom also a few weeks to the time called for the postponement of the exercise until the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state and those in other states go back to their homes.
The Executive Secrerary of SEMA, Dr. Emmanuel Shior said the exercise needed to be suspended to ensure that many communities and people are not left out.
“We’re calling for suspension of the census for now because we suspect that if federal government continues, a lot of people will be left out as their homes and communities will not be captured.
“There is a big challenge with that census that we are working out. Remember, the census is not only about counting human beings but their houses as well. So, the big challenge is that the people are displaced, they are in the camps,” he said.
Shior after addressing journalists gave food items to IDPs across the state.
The food items distributed by the SEMA chief were cartons of noodles, bags of rice, garri, tomatoes, salts, maggi, yam etc.
An Abuja federal high court on Friday declined an application demanding to halt the census operation.
Omotuyi Ademola had gone to court to demand a six month postponement for the census exercise.
He appealed to the court to affirm that the National Population Commission (NPC) is suffering underfunding and was not better prepared to embark on an effective and constitutional census.
The court case was adjourned until May 5, 2023.
The Informant247 recalls that the census commission a few weeks ago declared its preparedness to conduct the census exercise.