The Nigerian government has increased the amount allocated for the long-delayed national population and housing census from N693.3 million in 2024 to N1.1 billion in the 2025 budget.
The 2025 budget, which is presently pending review and adoption by the National Assembly, contains an additional N527 million in census-related provisions.
Among the census-related activities were N78 million for the Nigerian population database management system geo-portal hosting of the population website and web portal; N2.7 million for the creation of the concept manual for Enumeration Area Demarcation; N10 million for school-based census programmes; N25 million for conducting the second pretest; N10 million for presentations of the 2018 census instrument to stakeholders; and N2.5 million for the creation of a small area/EA level database for spatial.
Other expenditures include N17.7 million for intercensal population activities (such as intercensal surveys, national and subnational population projections, sentinel surveys, Nigerian demographic and health surveys, etc.) and the creation of a small area-level database for spatial analysis and distribution; N247.3 million for census advocacy and publicity (such as publicity, information, communication, and DNA enlightenment for population programmes, through print and electronic media, etc.); N40 million for census research, documentation, and archiving (such as studies on historical events and special populations, such as herdsmen, fishermen, homeless people, migrant farmers, etc.); N2.3 million for cartographic consumables for enumeration area demarcation exercises (such as umbrellas); and N90 million for the annual population census day commemoration.
Although the United Nations advises that nations perform population counts every ten years, Nigeria last conducted one in 2006.
The national census, which was originally planned for May 3–7, 2023, was put off indefinitely when former President Muhammadu Buhari was in office.
The National Population Commission (NPC) at the time estimated that the cost of conducting the census would be N532.7 billion.
Clem Agba, the former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, then changed this amount to N869 billion, stating that N291.5 billion had already been committed and that N327.2 billion more was needed.
The NPC reported spending N200 billion on the planning and partial implementation of the census, notwithstanding the postponement.
The chairman of the NPC, Nasir Kwarra, stated in November 2024 that he hoped the presidency would authorise the census’s 2025 administration.
