National Population Commission (NPC) says the census exercise will be carried out from March 29 till April 2, 2023.

Nasir Kwarra, NPC chairperson, announced the development on Friday.

Speaking with journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the state house in Abuja, Kwarra said the 2023 census would be different as it would prioritise the use of technology.

“By March 29 to April 2, our staff will be on the field enumerating people,” he said.

“This census is going to be different from past censuses. The theory and practice is essentially the same, but we’re using high-end technology to conduct this census and it’s such that nobody can tamper with any figure. Nobody will be counted more than once.

“We’re visiting households to do direct interface with the household, collect data.

“In the past, if you’re doing an operation manually, it’s very cumbersome. But this is being aided by technology and I believe it’s going to be transparent and very fast, and it is going to be verifiable, because we are able to provide data up to local government, up to ward level.

“So, it is something that you can always verify.”

Kwarra also said global positioning system (GPS) and satellite imagery would be used during the exercise, adding that demarcation of areas had already been completed.

On if the commission was worried about security challenges, he said the NPC hopes that the exercise would be smooth across the country.

The last national census was conducted in 2006.

The Cable