Why we don’t interfere with NBS data — FG 

The Federal Government has explained that it does not interfere with the outcome of surveys conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) because the government is committed to getting reliable information for proper planning.

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, who stated this while declaring open the 2022 African Statistics Day celebration in Abuja, yesterday, was obviously reacting to the result of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) launched by President Muhammadu Buhari last Thursday.

The MPI result showed that about 133 million Nigerians were living in poverty despite the huge investment in poverty alleviation by the current government.

The theme of the 2022 African Statistics Day is ‘Strengthening Data Systems by Modernising the Production and Use of Agricultural Statistics: Informing Policies with a View to Improving Resilience in Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Security in Africa.’

The Minister said the government needed to know the real state of affairs in the country and where the gaps are.

“If we do not know the real issues, it will be difficult to solve the problems,” he said.

He promised that the Federal Government would continue to support the NBS to enable it to perform more efficiently.

On the theme of the celebration, the Minister said it was very apt given the important position agriculture occupies in Nigeria’s development agenda.

“Statistics is very crucial to the development of any nation as it helps in the making of economic and development decisions. Agriculture now contributes 25 per cent to our national Gross Development Product (GDP). We therefore need reliable and timely data to make the right investment in agriculture,” he noted.

In his address, the Statistician General and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said the Bureau would continue to produce the right data to improve agriculture and ensure food security in Nigeria.

“I can assure you that we have started using modern digital technology in the collection of data. And we will continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness as well as the reliability of our data,” he added.

The guest lecturer, Prof. Victor Okoruwa, charged the NBS to have its own satellite to store its data.

He also called on the Federal Government to fund the Bureau properly if it hopes to see Nigeria develop and compete with other developed economies.