The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has warned that politicising the data from the National Bureau of Statistics would be counterproductive.
In a statement issued by his media office on Thursday, the former Vice President emphasised the importance of accuracy in data and statistics for development purposes.
On December 17, the National Bureau of Statistics disclosed that Nigerians paid a total of N2.23tn as ransom over the 12 months between May 2023 and April 2024.
The NBS also released its latest Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, revealing that an estimated 51.89 million crime incidents occurred across Nigerian households during the reference period.
This statistic highlighted the widespread nature of crime and the growing concerns surrounding security in Nigeria.
However, on Thursday the NBS refuted reports that Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeniran Adeyemi, was summoned for questioning by the Department of State Services regarding the release of the ransom payment survey report in Nigeria. The NBS also said the NBS website was not hacked, contrary to the claim in the media report.
In response, Atiku stated that the timing of the alleged hack, occurring shortly after the release of troubling security statistics, was suspicious.
