The Federal Government on Thursday urged Nigerians to make themselves available for the National Population and Housing Census billed for May.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the call at a town hall meeting in Kano organized by the National Publicity Committee on the census.

The minister, represented by the Director-General of, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr. Garba Abari, said the census was aimed at collating data for effective national planning.

He dismissed insinuations that the census questionnaire would ascertain the religion of respondents as falsely portrayed on some social media platforms.

Mohammed insisted that the data obtained were solely for national planning and development purposes as well as help in improving the nation’s security architecture.

The town hall meeting, he said, was organized to create the requisite awareness about the forthcoming exercise