Reps, other stakeholders advocate data-based national dev. plan
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The House of Representatives and key stakeholders in the national planning and economic development sector have harped on the imperative of strengthening the nation’s statistical system for accurate data generation needed for effective national planning and economic development.
Speaker of the House Rt. Hon.Tajudeen Abbas, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran and other key stakeholders made the assertion at a one-day public hearing held on Monday in Abuja.
The hearing was for ‘A bill for an Act to Repeal the Statistics Act No 9 2007 and Enact Statistics Bill 2025 to Enhance the Responsiveness, Relevance And Effectiveness of the National Statistical System in the Digital Era, Establish an Improved Finding Mechanism, and Strengthen the System to Promote Global Competiiveness in Statistical Development At All Levels of Government And for Related Matters.’
The Speaker who was represented by Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, the House Leader said that accurate and reliable data is key to effective national planning strategies for economic development.
He noted that National Assembly passed the Statistics Act 2007 an era where cloud computing was in its infancy, big data was merely a buzzword and artificial intelligence was confined to science fiction and the gig economy did not exist.
He also said that the amendment to the Statistics Act 2007 is to strengthen the legal framework to ensure increased funding of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, for reliable and accurate data needed for effective national planning.
Also speaking, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeniran, said that we now live at a time when data is increasingly becoming crucial for national development.
He further stated that the amendment bill is aimed at addressing key issues in data generation and management, including accountability and funding issues.
He said: “The increasing use of digital technologies, administrative data systems, geospatial information, big data, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and other emerging data sources requires a modern legal framework capable of supporting the evolving needs of the national statistical system.”
He added that the amendment to the existing Statistics Act 2007 will help in data collection and management for effective national planning.
Other key stakeholders, such as the Academic Staff of Research Institutes, Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMFAC and the Chartered Institute of Statisticians of Nigeria, also gave support to the House Committee for the amendment of the Statistics Act for effective planning with accurate and reliable data for national development.
