Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has described the current Nigeria’s population data as inaccurate, calling on the National Population Commission (NPC) to correct the past census figures during the 2023 national census exercise.
The governor said the population figures attributed to Bayelsa State were grossly underestimated.
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Diri stated this on Tuesday during the stakeholders’ summit on the 2023 Population and Housing Census held at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall in Government House, Yenagoa.
He stressed that the state had grown beyond the current structure of eight local government areas.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, hinted that such faulty census figures were responsible for the under-representation of Bayelsa in the House of Representatives with only five members.
He said, “By the 2006 census figures, Bayelsa had a population of 1,704,515. That figure was not correct. But we are hopeful that the next exercise will give a more reliable and acceptable figure.”
The Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission in charge of Bayelsa State, Mrs Gloria Izonfuo, hinted that the 2023 census would be fully digitalised in line with the United Nations principles and recommendations for the 2020 Round of Population and Housing Censuses.
The former Head of Service in Bayelsa said the commission had deployed technology to conduct the exercise and enhance data quality.
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