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Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, who has often criticized President Muhammadu Buhari, praised the president for postponing the 2023 census.
Mr. Ortom expressed his gratitude to Mr. Buhari for “listening to the voice of reason” in ordering the postponement of the census.
A statement issued on Saturday by Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, said the president postponed the exercise after meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council and the chairman of the National Population Commission at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.
The governor had asked, in a statement from his media adviser, Terver Akase, on April 13, that the population and housing census be postponed “until adequate security is ensured” in the country.
Ortom explained that conducting the census would amount to “injustice and deprivation of millions of Nigerians” who have been displaced from their ancestral homes by terrorists.
In Benue alone, the governor said two million people have been displaced and are living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
“I want to say that the federal government should suspend the census issue because it seems that the proposed census comes with an agenda.
“It must be suspended until they (the government) can restore security and all of our IDPs return to their ancestral lands to give everyone a chance to be counted in the homes of birth.
“Because I understand from the National Population Commission that those who are counted must be counted in their localities,” said Mr. Ortom.
The well-being of Nigerians is paramount
With the postponement of the census, Ortom urged the federal government to “ensure… that Nigerians whose communities have been taken over by bandits and armed herders get their land back and return home.”
He reiterated his commitment to the “rule of law, justice, fairness and equity.”
He added that the life and well-being of Nigerians must take precedence over other considerations for the country to realize its aspirations for greatness.
This newspaper reported on Saturday about Mr. Buhari’s postponement of the census.
The exercise was previously scheduled for May 3-7. However, with the postponement a new date would be announced to be determined by the incoming administration.
Nigeria had its last census in 2006.