Census: NPC suspends ad hoc staff payments
After the indefinite postponement of the 2023 census, the National Population Commission (NPC) has announced that it will not pay ad hoc staff for any fieldwork. Dr. Inuwa Jalingo, manager of the NPC Census, made this announcement on Sunday during a press conference in Abuja.
He added that the commission would most likely cover the expenses of data for people who would be actively involved online.
“Functionaries are paid on a time-and-materials basis. The field staff cannot be compensated for uncompleted tasks. The census budget assumes that you will work and that you will be paid a set amount each day that you do so. They won’t get paid until they start working,” said Jalingo.
He also mentioned that the census was theoretically ready to be implemented and that the commission was continuing to prepare for the exercise.
Jalingo further added that the commission had already acquired and sent over 400,000 devices to Central Bank of Nigeria branches across the states for use in conducting the census. Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, Director of Public Affairs at the NPC, echoed this sentiment, saying that Nigerians should not believe rumors that the census was delayed due to a lack of money or preparedness on the part of the commission.
Yahaya pointed out that the country was not losing anything by delaying the census and was rather gaining a lot by giving themselves more time to get ready to collect accurate data that could be used for planning.
Regarding the National Housing and Population Census, the commission stated that it was ready to start but was waiting for approval from the incoming Bola Tinubu administration.
