In push for credible census, CSO wants NPC boss removed

• Says Nigeria must organise credible census

• Census more important than elections

• Nation’s pronounced structural imbalances predicated on census numbers

Ben Eguzozie

Aware of the need to see Nigeria organise perhaps its first credible census, a civil society group, Africa’s Morning – Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance, says some of the country’s most pronounced structural imbalances are predicted on, and justified by census numbers, which have been anything but foolproof.

In a report, the group said, “census (in Nigeria) is as important, if not more important than elections. Preparations for the next one (census) is underway. Nigeria always had it flawed. Will be flawed regardless of commander-in-chief, except we make efforts”.

The CSO called for the immediate removal and replacement of the National Population Commission (NPC) chairman Isa Kwarra over what it described as his deficiency in competence and character.

“Having carefully monitored the way he discharged his responsibilities since his appointment as substantive chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), we observe that Isa Kwarra is deficient in competence and character. We believe these deficiencies will sabotage the census even under the best laws. That’s why we must dutifully shove him aside and make room for a competent fellow to oversee the upcoming census exercise,” the civil society group said.

It justified the importance of census in Nigeria, insisting that the upcoming census must be seen to be credible.

“Electoral implications: census determine important delimitations like: polling units, wards, LGAs, federal constituencies, and states. Even the routine brazen theft of elections and falsification of votes are done using census as the backdrop. The deployment of data capturing devices during CVR [continuous voter registration] exercises are justified by census numbers,” it stated.

The group gave implications of census in resource allocation: “Constitutionally, a certain proportion of Nigeria’s resources are shared, and developmental projects sited using census figures”.

It further warned that poorly organised census exercise was a justification for Nigeria’s structural imbalances: “Some of Nigeria’s most pronounced structural imbalances are predicated on, and justified by census numbers. From the delimitation of polling units, wards, LGAs, federal constituencies, states. Even the routine brazen theft of elections and falsification of votes are done using census as their backdrop. This offers those who are interested in genuinely changing Nigeria the incentive to pay attention to the way Nigeria’s upcoming census will be conducted.”

According to Africa’s Morning – Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance, “(it is) not enough to complain about the problems, (we) must design solutions and pay the full price to implement those solutions.”

It drew an analogy which depicts discrepancies between Nigeria and its northern neighbours such as Niger and Chad. It said Niger has 1,267,000 km2 landmass and a population of 25.25 million; Chad with 1,284,000 km2 of landmass, and a population of 17.18 million. Nigeria has a landmass of 927,768 km2 with a population of 220 million.

“From cultural and religious practices to even climatic conditions, much of Niger and Chad have a lot of similarities with core northern Nigeria. Yet they do not post fantastic census figures as northern Nigeria, despite having more landmass than Nigeria. The justification of Nigeria’s Northern population in relation to its landmass and religious/cultural practices cannot survive close scrutiny,” the group said.

On what must be done to ensure credibility in the upcoming Nigeria census exercise, the Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance advised “the audit of existing body of laws, including previous versions and attempted amendment of those laws; take comparative study of census management laws: compare Nigeria’s census management laws to those of other climes; produce concrete amendment proposals from draft policy documents to laws, work with relevant partners to see that these proposals are passed and signed into law.”

In the case for the replacement of Isa Kwarra as NPC chairman, the CSO cited the appointment as tenured according to (Section 157(3) of the NPC Act. It then questioned: “Was Silas Agara removed according to the dictates of the Constitution? If [the answer is] no, how does that affect the legality of Isa Kwarra’s appointment? NPC chairman may be removed by the President acting on the address supported by 2/3 (two-thirds) of the Senate on issues of misconduct [Section 157(1)]. Are there evidences of misconduct to initiate dismissal proceedings against him?”

The civil society group said the federal government must address other manpower issues such as technical team/consultants, training of substantive and ad-hoc staff, deployment/redeployments of staff. Also, audit all systems and processes such as: server/GPS systems, technical hardware and software, as well as other critical census infrastructure.

It gave six stages of intervention: final observation report, preliminary report, census observation, pre-census checklist, policy advocacy, and research/ policy design.