Abuja: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reaffirmed its commitment to providing credible, high-quality, and accessible data to support evidence-based policymaking aimed at driving sustainable national development and transformational change. Adeyemi Adeniran, the Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, made this known during the 2025 World Statistics Day celebration event.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Adeniran noted that the world was undergoing rapid socioeconomic transformation, digital evolution, climate change, and shifting global dynamics, stressing that data remained central to navigating today’s increasingly complex and interconnected challenges effectively. He emphasized the need for credible, timely, high-quality data presented in usable formats, produced sustainably to inform vital decisions at all levels of society.
Adeniran pointed to two recent milestones by the bureau: the rebasing of both the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which enhanced the reliability of national statistical reporting. These exercises were essential to improving data accuracy, aligning statistics with current realities, and enabling policymakers to make informed economic, social, and developmental decisions that responded to national priorities.
The GDP rebasing, concluded in July 2025, shifted the base year from 2010 to 2019 to better capture Nigeria’s present economic structure and the evolution of its productive sectors and industries. The exercise included emerging sectors like the digital economy, creative industries, food economy, pension management, and informal markets, providing a more comprehensive view of Nigeria’s evolving economic landscape.
On the CPI rebasing, Adeniran explained that the base year changed from 2009 to 2024, while the consumer basket expanded from 740 to more than 930 items, reflecting changes in household consumption behaviour. This would improve the accuracy of inflation measurements and how price changes affected Nigerian households, particularly the most vulnerable, while strengthening economic and fiscal policymaking efforts.
Beyond those milestones, Adeniran said NBS was modernising its data operations by leveraging digital technology, strengthening innovation, and working closely with ministries, departments, and agencies to build a robust data system. He highlighted the Integrated System of Administrative Statistics as a major innovation designed to streamline data collection, processing, and sharing across the public sector using existing administrative records and institutional cooperation.
Adeniran acknowledged persistent challenges, including inadequate funding, skills gaps, and difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified statisticians and data scientists needed to meet the bureau’s growing operational demands. He emphasized that good statistics are about people, not just numbers, with each data point reflecting real-world needs and scenarios.
Dr Victoria Okafor, representing the World Bank, commended the NBS’s innovative efforts in producing quality, timely, and reliable statistics, and pledged the Bank’s continued partnership and technical support to the agency. UNICEF representative Mrs Bai Ajoku reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s statistical systems and called on stakeholders to ensure those systems received adequate financing for inclusive national development.