DG- National Population Census will hold in 2018, if necessary logistics were provided

    Director-General of National Population Commission, NPC, Ghaji Bello, has said the National Population Census will hold in 2018, if necessary logistics were provided, noting that the exercise would cost an estimated N272 billion.

    Bello, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in New York yesterday, said the exercise should have been conducted in 2016 in line with international practice.

    To meet the UN 10-year benchmark, Bello said the commission was working for a constitutional amendment that would allow for scheduled conduct of the census.

   He added that the conduct of the census under the present administration would give the exercise a deserved National and International credibility and reliability.

   He explained that Nigeria would take advantage of technology in the next population census through the use of biometrics.

Of the estimated N272 billion, Bello said the Federal Government was expected to fund the exercise by only 51 per cent, while the international donor community would fund the remaining 49 per cent.