The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for the suspension of the upcoming national census exercise due to insecurity across the country.
In a motion on notice,the House expressed worries that many Nigerians are currently displaced from their homes as a result of insecurity, noting that some persons have crossed over to neighbouring countries for refuge and cannot be captured if the census is to be conducted.
Hon. Shehu Barwa Beji, (PDP, Kaduna), who moved the motion at plenary session, punctured the planned action by the federal government .
“With the overwhelming security challenges at hand, expecting accuracy in any census conducted now would be like passing an elephant through the eyes of a needle.A large chunk of Nigerians have fled their homes, while many others are being held under captive by kidnapers. As such, conducting such census without them means infringing on their constitutional right.” He said.
He decried the upcoming exercise,saying its negative consequences on personnel to be deployed for the exercise was unimaginable.
“Posting enumerators or adhoc staff to volatile areas of the nation in the name of conducting census is irrational, as it would be like giving them out to criminals.Conducting population and housing census in the current economic recession will only waste the hard earned resources of this country as the outcome will be inconsequential,”he added.
