Stakeholders raise concern over feasibility of 2023 national census

Some concerned stakeholders, who are insiders in Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC), have raised the alarm over what they said were missteps by the commission which they claimed were capable of scuttling a credible census in the country next year.

The stakeholders, including partners of the commission, workers and civil society groups, pointed fingers at the NPC Chairman, Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwara, as allegedly not being straight with the procurement of equipment for the coming census exercise.

Insider sources revealed that Alhaji Isa Kwara is set to present five companies to the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday as those approved for the procurement of equipment for the exercise and alleged that the five companies were all promoted by the same individual.

They said this had heightened the concern of the workers and partners of the commission that the plan was not only unsafe for an exercise as important as a national census but that it was also not morally right as multiple companies had been deemed to have qualified for the project.

A source said: “The contract with the project title: ‘Supply of PDA Tablets, Chargers, Power Banks, SD Cards and Tablet Pouch for Data Collection Exercise in the Coming 2023 National Population Census’ is worth about N300 billion. For there to be a safety net in the case of malfunction, various companies were approved to supply needed equipment. However, we got it on good authority that the chairman has deviated from the original plan and has given all the jobs to just one company.

“The worrying aspect of the whole drama is that stakeholders and partners found out that all the six companies that would be presented before the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday are all from the same individual. This isn’t safe. It is unhealthy for the exercise which we hope would be well executed to earn wide acclaim.

“This is the kind of mistake that scuttled efforts to produce a proper National Identity Card for Nigerians. We should not be retrogressing in matters like this in this modern era.”

Insiders, however, lauded Alhaji Kwara and the NPC board for sticking with indigenous Nigerian companies to procure the equipment for the exercise but frowned on one of the chosen companies in the line-up, which they said had a reputation for not working to specification.

“The government must urgently look into this and demand that these issues be straightened out before they are too late. We observed with great dismay and sadness that the company with the lowest reputation among those in line for the award of the contract had been put forward. It is the same company that had forwarded four other names as different companies. This is not proper, and it is a prelude to a disastrous outing for the NPC and cause the government serious embarrassment,” the stakeholders averred.

Efforts to get the reaction of Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwara were unsuccessful.

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