Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State on Saturday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for listening to the voice of reason and directing that the 2023 National Population Census be postponed.
Our correspondent reports that Governor Ortom had on April 13, 2023, called on the Federal Government to postpone the planned census until adequate security was guaranteed in the country.
The governor in a statement by his media adviser, Terver Akase, stated that conducting the census would amount to injustice and deprivation of millions of Nigerians who have been displaced from their ancestral homes and are living in IDP camps in Benue State and other parts of the country.
“I want to say that the Federal Government should suspend the issue of the census because it looks like the proposed census is coming with an agenda. So until they are able to restore security and all our IDPs go back to their ancestral lands to give all of them opportunities to be counted in the homes of birth. Because I understand from the National Population Commission that those to be counted must be counted in their localities,” he had said.
Ortom added, “With the postponement of the census now approved by President Buhari, the Federal Government should ensure that Nigerians whose communities have been taken over by bandits and armed herders regain their lands and return home.”
He said the lives and well-being of the people must be placed above other factors for the nation to realize its aspiration for greater growth and development.
The governor assured that he remained committed to the rule of law, justice, fairness and equity.
