Unfortunately since the appeal was made, the next general election taking place in 2027 has occupied the attention of most of the policy-makers who are keen on ensuring the status quo remains with President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) securing a second term.

However, despite the NPC chairman’s confidence, the prevailing situation in the country indicates that the exercise will be very difficult to carry out.

If the 2006 exercise which was conducted when there was peace in the land and still ended in controversy, this time around the enumerators will have to contend with the antics of Boko Haram and other non-state actors rampaging across the land in spite of the best efforts of our security services to curtail them.

Can we honestly expect them to put their lives on the line and go to high risk areas because they want to ensure a proper head-count of their fellow citizens? Your answer is as good as mine!

So the million naira question is: At the end of the day how credible will the figures be whenever the exercise is eventually carried out?