The National Population Commission, NPC, said it will be engaging the services of 14, 969 functionaries in the Federal Capital Territory on an ad-hoc basis for the conduct of the 2023 National Population and Housing Census.
The Federal Commissioner, NPC, in charge of the FCT, Hon. Joseph Kwali, who disclosed this during an interaction with Media Executives, said Census remains a varietal instrument for the socio-economic development of the country.
He assured residents that the commission will sustain its public advocacy it began before the postponement of the exercise to safeguard both human and material resources already expended on the exercise.
The commissioner said it is important for the commission to sustain the sensitization and reinforced its activities to maximize the resources already spent, so that the nation does not need to start preparations afresh whenever a new date is fixed.
Kwali, also added that the planned digital census will lay a proper foundation for a quality census that would accurately capture the nation’s demographic data.
He stated that the commission had before the postponement, effectively carried out Enumeration Area Demarcation, EAD, across the 36 States of the federation including the FCT.
The FCT-NPC boss affirmed that all the prospective field functionaries were trained, including facilitators, Data Centers monitoring, evaluation as well as supervisors.
Kwali explained that out of the 14,969, field ad-hoc personnel, the Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, has the highest number of 9,804 because of its large Enumeration Areas, while the other Area Councils shared the remaining spots according to the numbers of EAs in their domains.
The former chairman of Kwali Area Council disclosed that the commission has taken delivery of Digital Personal Assistants, and assured that it will deliver a credible and acceptable National Population and Housing Census.
According to him, the postponement of the 2023 Census from May this year, to a later date will allow the Commission to reappraise its preparation and perfect its plans for a successful national head count.
Earlier, the Director of National Population Commission, FCT, Madiu Zakariyau, commended the media for the robust partnership.
He said the FCT office of the NPC will continue to interface with the media for adequate sensitization of the public.
In his remarks, Director, Information and Communication, FCT, Muhammad Sule, who is representing the FCT Administration on the Publicity Committee of the 2023 Census, said the administration is ever willing to support the NPC to effectively discharge its statutory function.
He said the FCT Administration has plans to fully mobilized residents in the nooks and crannies of the territory to participate in the forthcoming census whenever it is fixed.
Recall that the administration of former President, Muhammadu Buhari had postponed the 2023 National Population and Housing Census from May this year to a date yet to be announced by the new government.
