Presidential Committee on the National Population and Housing Census (2025)
1. Chairman: Senator Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning
2. Secretary:Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra – Chairman, National Population Commission
Members:
1. Chief Adebayo Olawale Edun – Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy
2. Zacch Adelabu Adedeji – Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
3. Bisoye Coker-Odusote – Director General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC)
4. Hakeem Muri-Okunola – Principal Private Secretary to the President
5. Temitola Adekunle-Johnson – Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff)
My hope was dashed that the federal government of Nigeria inaugurated a high-level Presidential Committee on the National Population and Housing Census; a critical national task that will shape everything from political representation to developmental priorities for years to come and Out of the seven known members of this committee, five hail from the South West. Only the Chairman and Secretary represent the North West and North Central respectively. Entire regions: North East, South East, and South South, have been completely left out.
This is not just a clerical oversight. This is a dangerous gap that speaks volumes in silence. How can a committee that is meant to steer a national census lack representation from almost half of the country? In a nation as richly diverse and historically complex as ours, this kind of imbalance is not just unjust, it is unwise.
Census is not a mere counting exercise. It’s about identity, access, and future. It’s about who gets what, where, and how. If certain regions are absent from the decision-making table, how can we expect the process to be trusted or the results to be accepted?
I call on all critical stakeholders, traditional rulers, civil society, lawmakers, regional leaders, the media, and well-meaning Nigerians, to rise to this challenge. This is not a matter of politics. It is a matter of justice and national cohesion.
Let us not wait until after the damage is done. Let us speak now, boldly and united, to ensure that no region, no people, no voice is left out of this national conversation.
This country belongs to all of us. The census must reflect that.
Akeweta Emmanuel JP PhD
A Concerned Nigerian, writes from Batte, Yungur Chiefdom Adamawa State
