The management of the National Population Commission (NPC) has said there will be no public holiday during the forthcoming census, scheduled to hold between May 3 and 7, 2023.
According to the commission, everyone living in the country, including foreigners, would be counted at where and it urged people to make themselves available to the exercise.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday, the spokesperson for the NPC, Isiaka Yahaya, said;
“There won’t be a public holiday, because during public holidays people can move from one place to another, but there may be a restriction on movement, based on previous experiences. However, I can’t confirm that now. The government will come out with a categorical statement on that.”
“Foreigners will be counted as long as they are in Nigeria. Everybody in the land space of Nigeria will be counted. If you look at the definition of Census, it is the enumeration of all persons. It did not say only citizens. So, everyone resident in the country during the census period will be counted.
“There will be a section that will ask if you are a foreigner or not and the country they are from. It is part of the data to be collected, so it is not separate”.
When asked if anyone who refuses to present themselves for the exercise would be sanctioned, he said; “It is a rumour that people who refuse to be counted will be sanctioned. All I know is that we have encouraged all Nigerians to make themselves available for counting because the exercise is in national interest. There are actually offences that we do not want to emphasise, but we do not have the power and capacity to lock anyone up.”