Former Senator from Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has expressed his concerns over the lack of accountability in managing and spending public funds in Nigeria. According to him, if Nigeria had to export bananas or oranges to generate revenue, this situation would not exist.
Sani recently lamented the postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari. He stated that the $100 million allocated for the start of the program has vanished. “The preparation for the Nigerian Census consumed almost $100 million.
The census was halted, and the money disappeared. This is how an oil-rich country squanders its resources. If we had to export bananas or oranges to earn that money, this would not have been the case,” Shehu Sani asserted.
It is worth mentioning that the 2023 Population and Housing Census has been indefinitely delayed after President Buhari approved it just before leaving office.
The census was initially scheduled to take place from May 3 to May 7, 2023. The decision to postpone the census was made after President Buhari met with some members of the Federal Executive Council, the Chairman of the National Population Commission, and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on April 28, 2023, to discuss a new date with the incoming administration.
It was stated by the federal government on March 6th, 2023, that over $1.88 billion (N869 billion) would be needed to carry out the census.
Speaking at a high-level partner engagement in Abuja on Monday, Clement Agba, former minister of state for budget and national planning, said the federal government has provided 46 percent of the budget.
Agba said there still remains an outstanding of N327.2 billion needed to carry out the census effectively.
“The total requirements for this census, including the post-census activities, is N869 billion, this is about 1.88 billion US dollars,” he said.