The National Population Commission (NPC) in Gombe State has commenced it’s mock census, the third phase of Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in preparation for the 2018 population and housing census. Alhaji Bala Magaji, Federal Commissioner in charge of NPC in the state disclosed this during a press conference in Gombe this Thursday. He said  Billiri Local Government Area was selected for the exercise and a team of 50 persons had been engaged for the exercise.

“To us at the commission, the significance of the EAD exercise is beyond the conduct of the 2018 Census. We plan to establish and maintain a national frame, including locality list and house numbering, for future censuses and  surveys in line with the mandate of the commission under section 24 of the Third schedule of the 1999 constitution”, he said.

According to him, adequate logistics have been put in place for effective deployment of personnel and materials during the exercise. Magaji said during the exercise, a digital system would be used in capturing data to eliminate human error, adding that  and the process was capable of preventing  manipulations. He then appealed to state and local governments, traditional institutions and communities to support the commission in discharging its duties.