Census: NPC debunks reports of hacked server

The National Population Commission (NPC) on Monday, debunked reports made by one Mr Sanusi Maigida that the agency’s server was hacked.

This is contained in a statement issued by Dr Isiaka Yahaya, the Director, Public Affairs of the agency.

According to NPC, the reports were “misleading and false information made by an uninformed staff of the Commission and Comptroller of Chanchaga LGA in Niger State”.

Maigida cited the hack as “the reason for the postponement of the LGA-level training of the Supervisors and Enumerators for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.

In response, NPC said “The statement made by Mr Sanusi Maigida is false and does not represent the true position of things as regards the Commission’s server and the reason for the postponement of LGA-level training of the functionaries.

“As a staff in the LGA Office of the NPC, Mr Maigida has limited knowledge about the NPC server or its workability. He acted without directive and authorization from the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja and currently facing disciplinary action for such embarrassing misinformation.

“For record purposes, the Commission wishes to state that its server is solidly intact and ready to be deployed for the upcoming 2023 Population and Housing Census exercise.

“As part of measures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data for the 2023 Census, we have implemented comprehensive security measures to safeguard our servers, applications, and IT infrastructure.

“We deployed state-of-the-art technologies and industry best practices to protect our systems from potential security threats.

“These security measures include robust firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, regular security audits, encryption protocols, and multi-factor authentication for privileged accounts.

“Also, we have implemented strict access controls and user privileges and conducted continuous monitoring of our systems to detect and mitigate any potential vulnerabilities or incidents in real time.

“Accordingly, we wish to assure the public that the security of the data for the 2023 Population and Housing Census is guaranteed. The Commission is committed to upholding the highest standards of data protection and maintaining the trust placed in us by the Nigerian population.

“Similarly, the Commission wishes to set the record straight on the recent mission of the NPC Chairman. Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra to the United Nations.

“The mission was to attend the 56th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development where the Chairman presented Nigeria’s statement on ‘Population and Development’ at the global event and has since returned to the country to continue the NPC’s preparations towards the conduct of the first digital and green Census in Nigeria.

“Over the years, it has been the standard practice for the Chairman of the Commission to attend the annual event on Population and Development in line with the mandate of NPC as the coordinating agency on population matters in Nigeria.

“Consequently, the public is advised to disregard the false statement trending online about the hacking of the Commission’s server and the subsequent travel of the NPC Chairman to restore the purported hacked server.

“We will continue to update the populace on developments regarding the 2023 Population and Housing Census as events unfold.

“We urge everyone to support the Commission to ensure a secure and successful 2023 Census exercise.