The 2023 population and housing census will count International Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue State, the National Population Commission (NPC) has said.
It is responding to the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, and the President of Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, calls on the Federal Government to postpone the 2023 Population and Housing Census slated to be conducted from 3rd to 7th May 2023 due to fear of exclusion of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the census exercise.
They had asked the FG to provide adequate security for the IDPs in Benue and elsewhere in the country to enable them to return to their usual places of residence before the 2023 Census was conducted.
Governor Ortom further stated that close to two million indigenes of Benue State who are in
the IDP camps would not be counted if the Census is carried out as scheduled.
But in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs, Dr. Isiaka Yahaya in Abuja on Sunday, the Commission said that: “that everyone resident in Nigeria at the time of the 2023 Census exercise will be counted, including the non-Nigerians, Internally Displaced Persons and homeless people.”
It said the 2023 Census methodology has a robust and tested procedure for enumerating the IDPs in Nigeria, which is also in line with the international best standard.
According to the commission, the methodology devised is for counting persons in regular households and those who stay in irregular households, such as people in transit, homeless persons, and temporary living camps.
“The aim is to leave no one behind in order to ensure inclusive, credible, and acceptable census data. The 2023 Census methodology has a robust and tested procedure for enumerating the IDPs in Nigeria, which is also in line with the international best standard.
“The census questionnaire will elicit information on the usual places of residence of people in IDP camps, that is where they stayed before the displacement. This data can be accessed in case of a possible change in status to aid the planning process of their respective usual places of residence,” it said
The Commission stated that the mandate of the enumerators during the census period will be to count every person in the assigned Enumeration Areas, and the aggregation of all the persons counted during the census will constitute the population figures of Nigeria.
More importantly, it said the prevalence of the IDPs, rather than being ground for postponement of the 2023 Census, should be the reason for census taking.
” The 2023 Census will generate demographic data that governments at all levels, private sectors, international development partners and relief agencies will require to plan for the provision of food items, empowerment and social facilities to people in IDP camps,”it added.
