IN SHORT: Nigeria is planning a national census. But claims that the population commission has already recruited staff for the exercise are false.

Nigeria's National Population Commission (NPC) has sent out congratulatory emails to successful census job applicants.

That's the claim in what appears to be a screenshot of a message from the commission.

The NPC is responsible for counting the country's population through regular censuses and surveys.

The subject of the email is: "Application Approved-Congratulations."

It reads: "Dear Applicant, Congratulations! We are happy to let you know that your application for the position of Census Adhoc Staff has been accepted. After carefully examining your credentials, work history, and fitness for the position, we are certain that you will be an asset to our team. You are expected to join all virtual sessions that will be conducted very soon. Please find attached a document containing detailed information about Census Training."

In July 2023, the commission said it was ready to conduct the census and that president Bola Tinubu would set a date for the count.

Nigeria's last census was in 2006.

The screenshot has also been posted here, here, here, here, here and here on Facebook.

Other Facebook users only shared the text in the email.

But is it an official email from the commission?

Scam email, commission says

On 11 July, the NPC took to Twitter to warn the public not to fall for the scam.

The warning reads: "The Commission wishes to inform the public that it is not undergoing any recruitment exercise for the Census at the moment. Kindly note that NPC has concluded recruitment of the functionaries for the 2023 Census before the exercise was postponed."

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