Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has rejected the census figure allocated to the state by the National Population Commission (NPC) during the last census exercise, stressing on the importance of population census for planning and development purposes.

Governor Otti stated this during a visit from the federal commissioner, National Population Commission, Abia State, Emma Eke and his management staff.

Otti also emphasized on the need for the government to work with a reliable census, stating that it would be difficult for the government to plan or develop the society without accurate population data.

He said that past governments did not understand the importance of census but assured his guests that his administration would partner with them to achieve a successful exercise.