Afenifere Seeks Use of Biometric for 2023 Census

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, has called on the federal government to direct the National Population Commission (NPC) to make use of biometric as opposed to manual method that is prone to abuse in the forthcoming census.

The group made the call in a communique issued yesterday after its meeting held at Akure residence of its Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, on August 30, 2023.

The communique signed by its National Publicity Secretary,  Jare Ajayi, stated that members came from all Yoruba speaking states and Afenifere Chapter in the USA.

He noted that Fasoranti briefly recounted some of the happenings since the last two years that he hosted the Afenifere meeting at his residence.

Ajayi said the elder statesman raised a number of issues, which set the tone for the discussion that followed and resolutions  that were made thereafter, adding that at the behest of the leader, HRM, Oba Olu Falae, directed the meeting in which everyone made contributions.

“The meeting took note of the Census exercise coming up next year or so. It was noted that biometric method was successfully used for Voters’ Card registration.

“As such, Afenifere strongly calls on the federal government to make the National Population Commission (NPC) use the same Biometric Method rather than the manual method that is prone to abuse as had happened several times in the past.

“Afenifere is to be reinvigorated, revamped and refocused to continue to fulfill its mandate of being the Vanguard for the Yoruba Race.  To achieve this, a Committee is to be set up to achieve Reconciliation and Unity.

“Afenifere is an Ideological Movement. It is not a Political Party. Deviation from the basic Principles of Afenifere has been responsible for the undesirable turn of events in the last two years,” he said.

It added that arising from the above, Afenifere was to be brought back to its core values and tradition so as to be better positioned to  pursue its mandate for the benefits of the Yoruba race, Nigeria and the black race generally.