Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State
2023: I set up Population Committee to ensure seamless census in Abia – Ikpeazu
From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia
Abia State governor, Dr. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, has disclosed that he established a Population Committee for the State to make the proposed 2023 Population Census seamless in the state.
According to the Governor, the Abia State Population Committee was set up for the purpose of liaising with the Federal Government to ensure a successful census exercise.
Ikpeazu told a delegation of the National Population Commission (NPC) that he took the step because collation of reliable data on population was a key requirement for effective planning for national development.
Receiving a delegation of the NPC led by the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the Commission, Chief Johny Nwabuisi, at his Umuobiakwa country home in Obingwa Local Government Area on Wednesday, July 7, 2022, Ikpeazu said that periodic census was critical to national development because governments at all levels need to know the exact number of people whom they were serving and how best to apportion resources.
He said that the realization of the importance of population census management led his administration to set up the Population Committee for the State for the purpose of liaising with the Federal Government to ensure that the next population census would be hitch-free in the State.
He assured the Federal Commissioner that his administration would work closely with the Commission to ensure that the 2023 proposed national census was successful.
Earlier, the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the National Population Commission, Chief Johny Nwabuisi, had told the Governor that the NPC delegation was in Obingwa as part of their plan to organize a Trial Census which would be used to assess the Commission’s level of preparedness for the main census.
Nwabuisi added that it would also be a good time for the NPC to test their different equipment in readiness for the main census next year.
Obingwa LGA, according to him, was one of the Local Government Areas chosen for the trial census.
He thanked the Governor for his foresight in the setting up of the State Population Committee under the Chairmanship of a former Deputy Governor of the State, Rt. Hon. Eric Acho Nwakanma, describing it as a key step towards a successful census exercise in the State, and assured that the Commission would work closely with the Committee to capture the true population figure for the state.
The State Director of the National Population Commission, Mrs Juliana Ezebuiro, also spoke at the event, throwing more light on the activities of NPC in the state.
In his speech, the Chairman of the State Population Committee, Rt. Hon Eric Acho Nwakanma, thanked the Governor for establishing the Committee and assured that they would do all that was necessary to ensure that the true population figures for the State were captured in the next census.
Other members of the State Population Committee are Chief Charles Ama, Hon. Dr. Ikechukwu Nwabeke, Hon Barrister Randie Ukawoko, Hon. Ben Nwachi and M. U. Ihemadu.
