2023 Census: We won’t ask about religion

The National Population Commission, NPC has said that the May 3rd population and housing census will not ask questions on religion.

Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, NPC’s Director of Public Affairs, reacted to an audio tape going viral on WhatsApp that the religious affiliations of respondents will be canvassed.

According to him, the decision to exclude religion along with ethnicity from the census questionnaire was taken into consideration of the sensitive nature of these issues within the Nigerian polity.

He said in a statement;

“The attention of the National Population Commission has been drawn to an audio tape going viral on the WhatsApp social media platform across the country which stated that the religious affiliations of respondents will be canvassed in the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

The audio tape calls on Muslims in Nigeria to see the purported canvassing of information on their religious affiliations as a tool to suppress their population figures. It therefore instructed adherents of the Islamic faith to resist any attempt to divide the religion of Islam by refusing to answer any question on their religious affiliations.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission wishes to state unequivocally that the 2023 Population and Housing Census will not canvass questions on religion and religious affiliations of respondents.

The decision to exclude religion along with ethnicity from the census questionnaire was taken in due consideration of the sensitive nature of these issues within the Nigerian polity and the need to save the census data from needless controversies and attention.

A fact check on the origin of the purported message shows that it was first circulated in Ghana during its 2021 population census exercise through a Whatsapp message. This negative message found its way into the Nigerian social media space in July 2022 when the Commission conducted the Trial Census.

The re-circulation of the message in audio form as the Commission sets to conduct the 2023 Population and Housing Census in May 2023 is an indication that some elements are bent on drawing the 2023 Census into unnecessary controversies .”