The Federal Government through the National Population Commission (NPC) has signed a landmark deal with Nigeria’s leading integrated technology brand, Zinox, for the supply of the tech components and other accessories for the 2023 national census project, further justifying President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s commitment on local content promotion.

The contract, worth over N85bn, was recently awarded to Zinox after ratification by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Zinox, which has already commenced supply of the first batch of about 100,000 units of the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) devices required for the nationwide enumeration, emerged the undisputed and preferred technical partners for the exercise after scaling a rigorous bid process involving other local and international competitors.

Feelers from senior sources at the Presidency and within the NPC indicate that Zinox stood out in the intense series of background checks conducted to affirm the capacity, experience, integrity and ethical standing of the bidders, with the technology giant also meeting the rating as an indigenous technology powerhouse with global connections which has consistently enjoyed the confidence of leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and other tech heavyweights the world over.

This, it was learnt, earned it an overwhelming endorsement by the Federal Government for the project. Also, to its credit is the fact that it was Zinox that rescued the nation’s voter registration exercise in 2006 and 2010 when big foreign tech companies contracted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not deliver as scheduled.

Zinox used its Z-Pad smart device to lay the foundation for Nigeria’s digital democracy upon which INEC is building on today. The smooth execution of the over $200m INEC contract in 2010 added impetus to the profile of Zinox as a strong indigenous company with capacity and competence.

FG Awards Zinox Technologies Over N85bn 2023 Digital Census Contract - Brand Spur
Chairman, Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, said that the company had built a system of integrity and a record of excellence, both in Nigeria and internationally. Further, Ekeh noted that until there was a credible data census figure, the country cannot plan well.

Also, Managing Director, Zinox Technologies, Mrs. Kelechi Okonta, said: “It is a privilege for the Federal Government to consider us among many other companies in the world. They know we have the capacity. We are deploying all our resources to make sure it is successful.”

The 2023 census, scheduled to hold between March and April, will be the fifth to be conducted by the Nigerian government since independence in 1960 and it is coming 17 years since the last edition which was held in 2006 under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

President Buhari, who has not hidden his desire to bequeath to the next administration a useful, reliable and credible databank which captures Nigeria’s salient socio-economic and demographic information to underpin proper national planning, has thrown his weight behind efforts by the NPC to ensure a successful exercise. To this end, Zinox on Friday, February 3, 2023 hosted a high-powered delegation of commissioners and management team of the NPC led by the Chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra, where the first 100,00 units of digital devices were presented to the commission.

It could be recalled that Zinox introduced automation of Nigerian elections, first with the introduction of the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines which helped to clean up the nation’s voter register and later the card reader which enhanced credibility of elections in Nigeria in recent years.

Zinox had also executed major projects offshore in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and the Arab nations through partnerships.

The handover ceremony which was held in one of Zinox’s massive warehousing facilities in Lagos, saw the cutting-edge features of the PDAs unveiled to a mixed audience, including representatives of the NPC and sections of the media. Encrypted with census questionnaires and maps to direct enumerators to assigned enumeration areas, the devices were hailed as key components in the conduct of an exercise that would not only meet global standards but equally ensure accuracy of data collected.

The NPC Chairman noted that the 2023 census would signal a new dawn in housing and human headcount in Nigeria as there would be no over-counting or under-counting, adding that the devices, when commissioned with the forms, maps and other digital enhancements, would ensure that enumerators are unable to go beyond the areas assigned to them. In addition, he commended Zinox for the dedication, commitment and huge capacity displayed in the way it has commenced execution of the contract.

FG Awards Zinox Technologies Over N85bn 2023 Digital Census Contract - Brand Spur
He noted that the software (App) that would be deployed to enable and activate the PDAs was locally developed, thus fulfilling President Buhari’s Executive Order on local content, as well as the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) regulation on Local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the procurement of the PDA devices.

The NPC Chairman said: “With all enhancement that the National Population Commission is provisioning the devices with, e.g, the Mobile Device Management, we can monitor the enumerators on the field and ensure that the data provided by Nigerians are secured and well managed for their privacy.

‘‘The geospatial resources that NPC has acquired will be deployed on the devices. This will ensure that all Nigerians are counted where they are and live. We will also be able to collect statistics on housing type and characteristics for better physical and social planning by government for the nation.

‘‘The homeless will be counted, tied to their usual place of abode, referenced with geo-coordinates; the Special Population: nomads, migrants, people in transit, etc, will be counted with geo-reference to where they are found at the time of the Census. Everyone will be counted because all Nigerians count,” he noted.

Ahead of the 2023 presidential and governorship elections, the federal government of Nigeria has signed agreements with tech giants, Meta and Google, to tackle and curb the spread of fake news and promote the integrity of the forthcoming elections in Nigeria.

The agreements which were reached on Friday between the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and respective representatives from Meta and Google contained four demands which were presented by the Minister who was representing the federal government. The agreements which included cooperation by the tech giants with the federal government by flagging and taking down the post that is fake on their platforms,

While other agreements include;

– Working with security agents in Nigeria to take down posts that are aimed at inciting violence before, during, and after the elections.

– It was also agreed that election results not disseminated from original sources, are to be flagged as unverified and false by Meta and Google on their various platform.

– Meta and Google also agreed to make posts from official government channels, like the Ministry of Information and Culture, INEC, National Orientation Agency, etc., more prominent on their platforms.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed had earlier highlighted the importance of the elections to the country and the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians and the global community to enable and ensure a free and fair election is conducted in Nigeria, to which he noted the use of social media is a vital factor in the coming elections happening in Nigeria on Feb 25th and Mar 11 but of late the Minister expressed concerns over the use of fake news and disinformation on the social media platform to discredit the elections.

“There has been a gross abuse of social media platforms to purvey fake news and disinformation ahead of the elections. These unscrupulous people are resorting to the use of parody accounts, cloning of reputable media platforms, and the use of deep fakes to carry out their nefarious activities. For example, candidates’ campaign speeches are doctored to portray them in a bad light, and video clips and pictures of campaign rallies are tampered with to make them look poorly attended.”

He added that “Fake or unscientific opinion polls are concocted, while threats of violence in certain parts of the country are exaggerated. All of these are then circulated via social media to a wide audience, with the aim of making their target candidates look bad, influencing public perception or even suppressing votes in certain areas.
“We have therefore invited you, platform owners, here so we can work together to reduce these negative tendencies before, during, and after the forthcoming elections”.

However, before the agreement was reached between the tech giants and Federal Government, Meta disclosed that it had set up a cross-functional team that is spread across the world to monitor posts by Nigerians, before, during, and the after the elections, especially on Facebook and Instagram.

In furtherance of its Naira Redesign policy and in recognition of the need to maximise the channels through which underserved and rural communities can exchange their Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) today launched a Cash Swap programme in partnership with Super Agents and Deposit Money Banks, DMBs.

The programme enables citizens in rural areas or those with limited access to formal financial services to exchange old Naira notes for redesigned notes.

Since the introduction of the new Naira notes, the apex bank has sustained its nationwide awareness and sensitization programmes, enforced speedy collection of the new notes at CBN branches by the DMBs and mandated issuance of the new notes through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to ensure that distribution is fair, transparent and evenly spread across the country.

In a statement signed by its Director, Banking Supervision Department, Haruna B. Mustafa and the Director, Payments System Management Department, Musa I. Jimoh, the Bank said the initiative takes effect from Monday, January 23.

According to the programme, the old ₦1000, ₦500, ₦200 notes can be exchanged for the newly redesigned notes and, or the existing lower denominations (₦100, ₦50 and ₦20, ₦10 and ₦5) which remain legal tender.

Under the programme, agents can only exchange a maximum of N10,000 per person. Amounts above ₦10,000 may be treated as cash-in deposit into wallets or bank accounts in line with the cashless policy, with BVN, NIN, or Voter’s card details of the customers used for identification.

To promote financial inclusion, the service is also available to anybody without a bank account. Agents may, on request instantly open a wallet or account, leveraging the CBN Tiered KYC Framework. This will ensure that this category of the populace is able to exchange or deposit their cash seamlessly without taking unnecessary risk or incurring undue cost.

Agents are expected to sensitize customers on opening wallets, bank accounts and the various channels for conducting electronic transactions. The designated agents are also eligible to collect the redesigned notes from DMBs in line with the Revised Cash Withdrawal Limit policy. The agents are also permitted to charge cash- out fees for the cash swap transactions but are prohibited from charging any further commissions to customers for this service.

In addition, the agents will render weekly returns to their designated banks regarding the cash swap transactions, while the DMBs will in turn render same to the CBN on a weekly basis. The Principals, namely Super Agents, MMOs, DMBs will be held accountable for their agents’ adherence to the above guidelines.

The Cash Swap agents will be readily identifiable in all local governments, particularly those in the rural areas.

To ensure the success of the programme, the CBN assured that it will continue to monitor its implementation and provide further guidance as may be necessary.

The apex bank of Nigeria, CBN has introduced a national domestic card scheme to facilitate financial inclusion and grow Nigeria’s payment system which would take effect from January 16, 2023.

No information has been provided regarding the procurement cost and operational charges, however, Nigerians as of Monday, January 16, will start receiving a new electronic card for domestic transactions that will be charged in Nigeria.

The CBN payment scheme will begin processing payments using both debit and credit cards as it is expected that this card will compete with other debit/credit card payment options like MasterCard and visa used by Nigerians.

This new payment scheme which was announced in a press briefing in October last year was CBN in conjunction with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc and the Banker’s Committee.

The Managing Director of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, disclosed at the conference that the domestic card scheme would reduce the operating costs of cards in Nigeria for both issuers and users.

He added that “The card would be optimized for local content solely for the Nigerian market and support micropayment and credit, e-government, identity management, transportation, health, and agriculture regarding payment,”.

While the CBN’s Director, of the Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, also agreed with Mr. Osita’s comment saying that “Considering the strength and breadth of its banking sector and the rapid growth and transformation of its payments system over the last decade, Nigeria is ideally positioned to successfully launch a national card scheme”.


It is expected that the new card will unify payments across the banking sector, and is crucial at this time when Nigerians are having issues with commercial banks over unnecessary card charges on their cards. While the card will be delivered to Nigerians through Nigeria’s central switch, the NIBSS in partnership with the Bankers Committee and other stakeholders in the financial ecosystem.

This development puts Nigeria among the list of countries that have launched similar cards for domestic use, which includes India, Turkey, China, and Brazil.

The CBN also disclosed in their statement that “The domestic card scheme will be an important game changer for financial inclusion in Nigeria.

“The plan is to deliver Africa’s first central bank-driven, domestic card scheme that combines a fully domestic infrastructure with international interoperability. Our plans will enable us to pivot into the largest card scheme in Africa, and amongst the biggest globally.”

Nigeria’s inflation rate eased for the first time in 11 months to 21.34 percent.

The country’s inflation rate had risen for 10 consecutive months, up to November 2022, when it reached 21.47 per cent.

The National Bureau of Statistics in its latest report on Monday said the country’s inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13% between November and December.

The report read, “In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34% compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47%.

Nigeria’s Inflation Drops First Time In 11 Months
“Looking at the trend, December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13% when compared to November 2022 inflation rate.

“However, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 5.72% points higher compared to the rate recorded in December 2021, which was (15.63%). This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in the month of December 2022 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., December 2021).

“On a month-on-month basis, the percentage change in the All Items Index in December 2022 was 1.71%, which was 0.32% higher than the rate recorded in November 2022 (1.39%). This means that in the month of December 2022, the general price level was 0.32% higher relative to November 2022.

“The percentage change in the average Consumer Price Index for the 12 months ending December 2022 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 18.85%, showing 1.89% increase compared to the 16.95% recorded in December 2021.”