The judge held that the decision of the NPC to withhold information or records of spending on the aborted census was wrongful, illegal, and unconstitutional.
By Jeffrey Agbo
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the National Population Commission (NPC) to, within seven days, disclose details of expenses made as regards the population census which was suspended indefinitely by the Federal Government in 2023.
Last June, the NPC said N200 billion was spent on its preparation for the census.
The exercise was initially scheduled to be held in 2022 but was postponed to 2023.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari suspended it indefinitely in the twilight of his administration, saying that he would allow President Bola Tinubu to announce new dates for the headcount.
The census is now slated for November 2024.
Abuja-based lawyer, Opatola Victor, sued the commission to court after the NPC refused to provide the details of the money spent on the suspended exercise through a Freedom of Information Act filed by him.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 503/2023, Victor stated that the refusal of the commission to make the record of spending on the suspended population census among others, available to him was a breach of his rights under Section 4 of the FOI Act 2012.
He then asked the court for an order of mandamus compelling the population commission to make the requested records of the suspended 2023 population census available to him in line with the provisions of the FOI Act.
He also requested a compensation of N500,000 for the breach of his rights by NPC.
In his judgment on the matter, Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed the defendant’s claim that bureaucracy and the executive chairman’s absence were to blame for withholding the requested records from the plaintiff.
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The judge rejected the NPC’s argument that certain requested information was classified.
He stated that based on the definition of classified information, there was no secrecy involved in the matter of the population census.
The judge held that the decision of the NPC to withhold information or records of spending on the aborted census as requested by the lawyer on March 30, 2023, was wrongful, illegal, and unconstitutional.
Ekwo said, “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.
“An order compelling the NPC, its servants, agents privies, and officials to furnish the plaintiff with comprehensive and detailed information concerning the Quality Test Assurance Report on the devices and technology to be deployed for the postponed 2023 population census is hereby granted. ”
The judge, however, declined to award the requested N500,000 in favour of the plaintiff as stated in the lawsuit.