By Vidal Bultman
The Chairman for the Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPPP), Madam Femi Claudius- Cole over the weekend at a press conference held at her Pademba Road Office told newsmen that part of their responsibilities is to fulfill the commitment they made to the people of this country during their campaign in 2018 and to serve as whistle blowers by calling the ruling government to order. ‘’We have been monitoring things as they unfold and we have been calling the government to order in order to avoid mis-happenings in the country,’’ she noted, while re-echoing COPPP’s stance with regards the ongoing mid-term census.
Reading the press release, the National Secretary General of the Opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) Party, Alhaji Dr. Ambassador Osman Foday Yansaneh said among other things, COPPP notes with concern the decision of the government to proceed with the mid-term census in spite of the numerous issues surrounding the project. He referenced world Bank decision as contained in the release dated 7th December, 2021 to the government expressing it decision to stop giving technical assistance or funding support to the mid- term census.
‘’Several critical action points require further technical work to be satisfactorily address including evaluation of the pilot census result, the field operation plan for the remuneration and ensuring Enumerators are adequately trained.
All these outstanding actions are necessary and must be addressed prior to commencing data collection to minimize the risk of inadequate and poor data quality.There is insufficient time between now and December 10, 2021 to satisfactorily address all pending actions,’’ O.F. Yansaneh quoted the release from World Bank. After giving COPPP’s current stance on the so-called mid- term census, he reiterated the position of COPPP on the mid-term census, stressing the position remains unchanged.
According to the release, the position includes seven points ranging from unresolved technical problems, suspicious object of the census vis-a-vis boundary delimitation before the next election; controversy surrounding the project, rights of citizens to challenge bad decisions, intimidation/ arrests of political leaders to brazen determination by players of the government to waste tax payers- money on a fruitless project and their belief that the project is not good for the country at this time. Several COPPP members responded to questions posed to them by newsmen who covered the press conference.
