Northern elders kick against planned 2022 census, says timing is inappropriate

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has kicked against Nigeria conducting a census in 2022, stating that the timing is wrong.

NEF spokesperson, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, 17 January, argued that organizing a national population census a year before the election was inappropriate.

“We are not afraid of the census in the north but you should not do such a sensitive exercise close to the elections. It is not the right time to do this,” Mr. Baba-Ahmed said.

Before now, amid calls that the 2023 presidency should be zoned to the south, the NEF had boasted that the north had the population to dominate Nigeria for decades.

“We will lead Nigeria the way we have led Nigeria before. Whether we are president or vice president, we will lead Nigeria. We have the majority of the votes, and democracy says vote whom you want,” Mr. Baba-Ahmed had earlier said.

Last year, the National Population Commission (NPC) chairman, Nasir Kwarra, said the commission was preparing for the national population and housing census in 2022.

The last population and housing census in Nigeria took place in 2006, totaling the country’s population at 140 million but currently, Nigeria’s actual population is uncertain.

At the moment, Nigeria’s population is estimated as 206 million people, according to details released by the National Population Commission (NPC) in 2020.