Naomi Gabriel —

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde last Wednesday appealed to the National Population Commission (NPC) to ensure an accurate census in 2023 and avoid manipulation of results. He also added that the population of Oyo State should not be less than 15 million, saying any figure below that could be false and inaccurate.

Represented by his Deputy, Bayo Lawal in Ibadan, the state capital, at a stakeholders’ summit organised by the NPC on the 2023 population census, with the theme: ‘2023 Population and Housing Census – Get Involved’, Makinde said the NPC had not been fair to Oyo State in previous census exercises.

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“Census is very important for us as a government. It is not about politics, religion or culture. It is about the number of people in each local council, the state and Nigeria, the Governor said.

‘’By my experience, NPC has not done well for us. Chief Awolowo said the 1973 census was unrealistic. Since then, they started projection. The 1991 census was worse than that of 1973. I am saying this as the governor of Oyo State and you take it to your headquarters that they are shortchanging Oyo State.

‘’As it stands today, the population of Oyo State from NPC is not up to 10 million. Be accurate and impartial. Declare what you capture. If the population of the state is less than 15 million, it is false and inaccurate. Do your work accurately”.

He called on the people of the state to cooperate with the NPC and it officials during the exercise.