Senate Committee Mourns NPC Chairman, Vows to Preserve His Census Legacy

The Senate Committee on National Identity and National Population has condoled with the National Population Commission (NPC) over the death of its Chairman, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, describing his passing as a devastating loss to the commission and Nigeria’s census process.

The committee, led by its Chairman, Senator Victor Umeh (OFR), visited the NPC headquarters in Abuja on Monday, September 7, 2026, to sympathise with the commission and the late chairman’s family.

Dr. Yusuf died on August 28, 2026, less than a year after his screening and confirmation by the Senate in October 2025.

The delegation was received by the Federal Commissioner representing Plateau State and overseeing the Office of the Chairman, Hon. Mrs. Mary Ishaya Afan, mni, alongside other federal commissioners, the Director-General and management staff of the commission.

Speaking during the visit, Umeh said the news of Yusuf’s death came as a profound shock, revealing that he initially learnt of the development through social media.

“I was looking at my Facebook account and I saw a post that the Chairman of the National Population Commission was dead. I couldn’t believe it,” Umeh said.

The senator recalled his last encounter with Yusuf during the World Population Day celebration on July 28, saying the late chairman showed no indication that he was unwell.

“I had to fly from the East to come and attend that event and left the next day. The planning and execution was very wonderful, and he didn’t show any sign of sickness,” he said.

Umeh described Yusuf as a humble and committed public servant who maintained cordial relations with the National Assembly throughout his tenure.

“Aminu Yusuf was a gentleman. Somebody who will never complain, even in the midst of difficulties in the task he was doing here,” he said.

The senator expressed particular regret that Yusuf would not live to oversee the long-awaited national census, an assignment for which, he said, the late chairman had been preparing.

“While we were looking forward to him leading this Commission to conduct the much-awaited National Census, he did not live to discharge that assignment,” Umeh stated.

The committee chairman extended condolences on behalf of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Senate and the wider National Assembly to the NPC and the bereaved family.

He was accompanied by Senators Khabeeb Mustapha and Peter Jiya, among other members of the committee. Mustapha offered prayers for the peaceful repose of the deceased.

Responding on behalf of the NPC, Mrs. Afan thanked the senators for the condolence visit, saying Yusuf’s death had left the commission deeply shaken.

“You can see the impact of this on our faces. Since after the death of the chairman, we have not had the opportunity to sit down like this in our Commission,” she said.

Afan described Yusuf as a visionary leader who assumed office with a seven-point agenda and had begun laying the foundation for the repositioning of the commission.

She pledged that the NPC would continue with the late chairman’s programmes and ensure that his vision, particularly regarding the national census, was not abandoned.

“He has laid a very good foundation for this Commission. Whoever Mr. President will bring, we will support the person to make sure that whatever our late Chairman has put on ground is accomplished,” Afan said.

She added: “Chairman has died, but his legacies are still living.”

The Senate delegation subsequently signed the NPC condolence register in honour of the late chairman.