The National Population Commission (NPC) has stated that information to be generated from the upcoming trial census are not for public consumption as it warned individual and officials found disclosing such information would be arrested and charged to court.
According to the Federal Commissioner in charge of the Gombe NPC office Abubakar Mohammed Danburam, the trial census was to test-run its preparedness for the 2023 national census. He explained that the commission will use the trial census to test their equipment, personnel and the possibility of other plans in conducting the main census.
Addressing newsmen shortly after flagging-off of training for personnel engaged for trail census, the commissioner said, “The trail census is just for the trail as the name implies and the information is meant for inhouse consumption, not for the public, we have warned our staff and enumerators not to just seat under trees and cook figures”.
“That is why we always bring in a magistrate for an oath of secrecy because we don’t want any information to go out, any falsification of information is criminal because is tantamount to causing chaos. So, we don’t a situation whereby you will go and share with the public something that is not true.
Anybody found wanting in disclosing any secret information to the public will be sacked and possibly charge with a criminal offence because it is a big crime to disclose information capable of causing chaos. Issue population information should not just go out unofficial. This information from the trial census is not going to form part of the main census,” he added.
He further disclosed that eight out of the 11 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the Gombe state have been identified for the trial census as he called on the resident to support and cooperate with the commission in conducting the trial census. He explained that the commission will be deploying a total of 104 field personnel for activities of the trial census in Gombe.
He said, “We have a total of 105 field functionaries in Gombe which comprises 90 Enumerators, 9 Supervisors and 6 Facilitators. The trail census will be conducted in eight out of the 11 LGA of the state. Special populations such as mad people, nomads and those people not opportune to be at their homes will form part of the trial census and will be counted,” Danburam stated.
Credit: Daily Sun