The National Population Commission (NPC) has said it was looking to spend ₦2,800 to count each Nigerian in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census exercise.

Its Federal Commissioner in Enugu State, Ejike Eze, said that the commission from its ₦896 billion budget, proposed to spend ₦2,800 to count each person, which he claimed was the least when compared to budgets of countries like the U.S which spent between 12 dollars and 15 dollars to count a citizen, while Malawi spent nine dollars per citizen.

The exercise, scheduled to hold from May 3 to May 5, 2023, is the first census to be conducted in the most populous black nation since 2006, which then put Nigeria’s population at 14.4million.

The NPC has vowed that every resident, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, will be counted in this year’s exercise.