People Gazette
Yemi Kale, the immediate past Statistician-General of the Federal (SGF) said during his time in office, the President Muhammadu Buhari regime pressurised him to publish inaccurate data.
He, however, said he didn’t budge as he was bent on discharging his duties accurately.
Mr Kale who doubled as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said this during an interview with Arise TV, where he spoke on political reactions to the unemployment data published under his watch.
Data published by NBS in March this year indicated that Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 33.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 (Q4 2020), compared to 27.1 per cent in Q2.
The data was faulted by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige who accused NBS of inaccuracy and not using the right methodology.
“There has been a little confusion as to the accuracy of data generated by the NBS. So, we want to align everything tomorrow. The World Bank says the NBS methodology doesn’t conform with the global standard, especially the ILO format of arriving at such Employment Index,” Mr Ngige had said.
For Mr Kale his “extreme stubbornness” made him shun the political attacks and opinions as he ensured that the right methodology was adopted in arriving at such data.
“I’m extremely stubborn which a few of my friends have said is a requirement for the job, but on a serious note. When I started this job, I remember mentioning to my key staff that if I must do this job, I must be ready to be fired at a moment’s notice,” he said.
“I’m serving my country and I will serve it correctly and I’m ready to lose my job for doing the right things. I am not ready to keep my job for doing the wrong things. Once I convi…
