National Population Commission Denies Server Hacking Claims
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The National Population Commission (NPC) has issued a statement denying the claim by one of its Comptrollers in Chanchaga Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State, Sanusi Maigida, that the organisation’s server had been hacked.
Maigida’s claim was made in a viral video where he stated that the commission’s server had been hacked, leading to the postponement of the local government areas level training of supervisors and enumerators for the census.
In response, the Director of Public Affairs of the Commission, Isiaka Yahaya, stated that Maigida’s claims were false and did not represent the true position of things.
Yahaya also confirmed that the NPC’s server is solidly intact and ready to be deployed for the upcoming 2023 Population and Housing Census.
According to the spokesperson, “The attention of the NPC has been drawn to misleading and false information by its staff a Comptroller of Chanchaga LGA in Niger State Sanusi Maigida, who has limited knowledge about the NPC server or its workability.
“Maigida’s disclosure was the hacking of the NPC server, as the reason for the postponement of the LGA level training of the supervisors and enumerators for the 2023 population and housing census.
“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.
“As part of measures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data for the 2023 census, we have 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,” he said.
The commission also noted that as part of its regulatory duties, Maigida would face disciplinary action for such misinformation.
The NPC said, “He acted without directive and authorization from the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, and is currently facing disciplinary action for such embarrassing misinformation.
“We wish to assure the public that the security of the data for the 2023 population and housing census is absolutely guaranteed.”
