Nation
NASS accuses NPC of diverting N234 bn shelved 2023 census fund
...as controversy trails N18bn 2025 budget
The whereabouts of N234bn released by former president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to the National Population Commission (NPC) in late 2022 for a national census originally scheduled for May 2023 is unknown and has become another statistic in Nigeria’s growing official corruption culture.
The refusal of NPC to account for the humongous funds and the studied silence of President Bola Tinubu’s administration has led to a whirlwind of criticism and speculation of official collusion and culpability. The census project was canceled due to its closeness to the 2023 election and transition of government.
A couple of weeks ago, the opposition accused the federal government of failing to explain what happened to the N234bn released for the aborted national census. The opposition alleged diversion of the same for the 2023 electioneering campaign.
It could be recalled that in the twilight of former president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the National Population Commission had proposed a budget of approximately N800bn for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
As of May 2023, a total sum of N224bn had already been disbursed, in addition to N10bn approved in October 2020 for Enumeration Area Demarcation across 546 Local Government Areas, which never held.
To the amazement of many Nigerians,17 months into his presidency, President Bola Tinubu has yet to make any pronouncement on a new date for the exercise, igniting concerns about the implications of his silence for governance, economic planning, and resource allocation.
Earlier, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, had claimed that the current administration might not have an answer to what happened to the money released.
He noted that it was crystal clear that census money released by the Buhari administration was originally meant to prosecute and tilt the 2023 election in favour of the ruling party.
He said, “In the last eight years of Muhammed Buhari, this issue of census has come up, and we have never seen it happen. Most of the years, the money released for census matters either just flew away or got swallowed by snakes. Yet, we have never seen any census conducted.
“In a saner clime, the census is held every five years or thereabouts. But in Nigeria, it takes about 10 or 20 years to conduct one. Again, in the case of Nigeria, monies are budgeted almost every year.
“Now, if that chunk of money was released a few months before the election but failed to hold and nobody accounted for it, it does not take anyone to decipher why the money disappeared. It was obviously used to execute the election and the person in charge of the population census has not come out to tell us what happened to the money.”
Reacting to the widespread insinuation of possible mismanagement, the ruling party denied any wrongdoing, saying there was no iota of truth in the allegation.
The Deputy National Organising Secretary of the APC, Nze Duru in a recent interview, noted that the census programme was a national assignment that was on course and would eventually be facilitated by the APC administration.
“I do not see any concern. I believe that is something that will happen and I know it will happen shortly. We cannot have any provision in the budget without capturing the population of the country and where the people are resident. So, it’s something that we require, and I know efforts are ongoing to ensure it happens.”
But the concern has cut across party line. In December 2023, members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations were shocked when informed that there was no provision for the scheduled 2024 population and housing census in the budget proposal for the NPC.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on National Population Commission, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP Bauchi Central), told the lawmakers about the development while presenting a report on the NPC 2024 budget to the collating Committee.
He informed the committee that if the money for the census was not provided in the budget, the country would lose about N200bn, which the NPC has spent.
He, however, made it known to the committee that NPC would be invited to appear with its documentation on how much they need to conduct the 2024 population census.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC Ogun West), assured Ningi that the committee would look for funds to cater for the 2024 population census in the budget.
He said that the head of the agency should appear in the company of the committee chairman to tell them what was needed for the conduct of the census which was scheduled to be held in the first quarter of next year.
After much hue and cry, no census was held in 2024.
Only last week, the Senate expressed strong dissatisfaction with the NPC’s failure to conduct a population census in nearly two decades.
On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on National Identity and Population directed the NPC to ensure that the long-overdue census takes place this year.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Abdul Ningi, and other members, including Senator Diket Plang, expressed their frustration over the lack of credible population data, which has significant implications for national planning and development.
Senator Olalere Oyewumi, Deputy Minority Leader and Vice Chairman of the Committee stressed the imperative of conducting the census this year, stating, “2025 budget of NPC should revolve around population census, which must be done this year.”
“To prevent what happened in 2022 during President Muhammadu Buhari from repeating itself, the population exercise must be held this year because 2026 will be too close to the 2027 general elections.”
NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra presented the Commission’s 2025 budget proposal, which allocates N18.2 billion, with N1.17 billion earmarked for overhead and N17.7 billion for capital votes.
Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon, a political scientist, said “The culture of impunity and lack of accountability remains strong. Nobody has been questioned in NPC, neither has the agency given any reason for not holding the census after such a huge sum of N234bn had been released almost two years ago. This country is horrible theatre of the absurd.”
Danladi Abdullah, a rights activist, told Business Hallmark that “nothing has changed if anything, the culture of corruption and impunity reigns supreme. Money was collected to conduct a census, and yet it has not been conducted, and no reason has been proffered for delay. It’s a very terrible situation and horrible reality to be a Nigerian.”
