COURT ORDERS NPC TO RELEASE DETAIL OF SPENDING ON ABORTED 2023 CENSUS

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the National Population Commission (NPC) to release details of spending on the aborted 2023 Population Census to an Abuja-based lawyer, Opatola Victor within seven days.

Justice Ekwo issued the order while delivering judgment in a suit instituted against the population commission.

The judge declared that the refusal by the NPC to release the information or records of spending on the aborted census as requested by the lawyer on March 30, 2023 was wrongful, illegal and unconstitutional.

While invoking Section 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, Justice Ekwo held that the refusal of the commission to provide the plaintiff with information on the companies that provided due diligence report on the technology to be deployed for the ill-fated census was a gross violation of the right of the plaintiff as enshrined in Section 4 of the FOI Act.