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2023 Census Will Not Canvass Questions On Religious Affiliation —NPC

Published

4 years ago

March 29, 2023

Joel Ajayi

The National Population Commission (NPC) has revealed that the 2023 census will not canvass questions on religious affiliation.

The Director, Public Affairs of NPC Isiaka Yahaya, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, stated this on Tuesday while debunking a viral WhatsApp audio claiming that the religious affiliation of a person will be canvassed.

According to the statement, our attention has been drawn to an audio tape going viral on the WhatsApp social media platform across the country which stated that the religious affiliations of respondents will be canvassed in the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

“The audio tape calls on Muslims in Nigeria to see the purported canvassing of information on their religious affiliations as a tool to suppress their population figures. It therefore instructed adherents of the Islamic faith to resist any attempt to divide the religion of Islam by refusing to answer any question on their religious affiliations.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission wishes to state unequivocally that the 2023 Population and Housing Census will not canvass questions on religion and religious affiliations of respondents.

“The decision to exclude religion along with ethnicity from the census questionnaire was taken in due consideration of the sensitive nature of these issues within the Nigerian polity and the need to save the census data from needless controversies and attention.”

The statement further said that a fact check on the origin of the purported message showed that it was first circulated in Ghana during its 2021 population census exercise through a Whatsapp message. “This negative message found its way into the Nigerian social media space in July 2022 when the Commission conducted the Trial Census. The re-circulation of the message in audio form as the Commission sets to conduct the 2023 Population and Housing Census in May 2023 is an indication that some elements are bent on drawing the 2023 Census into unnecessary controversies through propagation of falsehood and incitement of a section of the population to destabilize existing peaceful coexistence in the country.

“The Commission carried out extensive consultation with data users and stakeholders in coming up with the questions to be canvassed in the next census. The overarching goal of the questionnaire is to generate data that will facilitate sustainable development. The questionnaire is robust and include demographic characteristics of respondents and other socio-economic characteristics but without any question whatsoever on religion and ethnicity.

“Members of the general public are therefore enjoined to disregard the rumour of question on religious affiliation contained in the audio tape in circulation and extend maximum cooperation to the enumerators for the sake of delivering a credible, reliable and acceptable 2023 Population and Housing Census data for national development planning.”

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Musawa Seeks Broader Significance for June 12

Published

9 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Esq., says June 12 must be remembered as a sacrifice that gave Nigerians democracy, beyond its status as a public holiday.

In a statement signed on Saturday by the Senior Assistant Media & Publicity to the Honourable Minister,Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Dr Nneka Ikem Anibeze Ph.D in Abuja.

Musawa stated this at the national premiere of “MKO”, a film on Chief Moshood Abiola, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos, to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

She said 33 years after June 12, 1993, many young Nigerians know it only as a holiday, but the film turns it back into memory.

“For too many young Nigerians, June 12 is simply a public holiday. This film tells them that our democracy did not arrive by chance. It was fought for. It was defended. It was paid for. This documentary is in honour of the heroes of June 12, the men and women who gave their lives for the mandate of June 12, 1993 and for the democracy Nigeria enjoys today,” the Minister said.

Musawa hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Host, for his participation in the June 12 struggle and paying the price in exile, adding that Nigeria’s creative industry will keep telling the story of its democracy with courage.

“Through film and the creative economy, Nigeria will preserve its history. A nation that forgets its past loses its way to the future. Nigeria has a story and our story deserves to be told,” she said.

Earlier, the director of the investigative documentary, Ose Oyamendan, said the film was in honour and memory of heroes who fought for Nigeria’s democracy.

“There was Hope ’93 and now there is Renewed Hope. There was a man who sacrificed his life so we may have democracy and there is a man who almost lost his life fighting for democracy who is now helping build a lasting democracy.

“There was a great man called Bashorun MKO Abiola and there is now another great man called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Democrats. Nationalists. Nation builders. Leaders of men and women. We must never forget our story. We must always honour and remember our heroes,” Oyamendan said.

Top government officials including President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the wife of the President Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Chief of Staff to the President Rt. Femi Gbajabiamila, state Governors, members of the National Assembly, Ministers and other distinguished dignitaries attended the premiere.

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