In advance of the upcoming population and housing census, the National Population Commission claimed to have put in place safeguards against all types of fraud.

The commission also emphasized that residents who reside outside of their home states do not need to return there in order to participate in the exercise. There was a statement that people would be counted where they lived.

In a Monday interview with our correspondent, the commission’s spokesperson, Isiaka Yahaya, made this statement.

He stated, ”People should stay where they are, to be counted. They are not to move to their states of origin. It is totally against the essence of the census. You have to be counted where you reside because that’s where you enjoy the social facilities like education and health, among others.

“Apart from this, when the time comes for people to be provided with infrastructure and other things you will not allow the planners to have accurate figures.  People are not to move.”

The NPC official continued, regarding steps to prevent fraud: “This is a de facto census. Not those who have yet to be born, but those who are currently alive, are the subjects of our practical inquiries. Our enumerator has not been instructed to count people who have not yet been born. To prevent all the malpractices that we have foreseen, a system has been put in place.

“Also, people can only be counted in their houses.  This is to discourage people from moving from one place to another after being counted. You can only be counted in one place. There’s will nothing to lie about. When we get to your house, the enumerators would see whatever you say you have and we are not asking for the owner of the house, why will anybody lie?”

Yahaya claimed that the commission’s enumerator recruitment procedure was still ongoing.