The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has issued a statement debunking the death of the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr Simon Harry.
In a statement by its Director, Communication and Public Relations Department, Ichedi Joel, on Sunday, he refuted the report by an online platform claiming the SG was dead.
Mr Sunday, who described the report as false, noted that the SG was ill on Saturday and was much better on Sunday after taking medications.
What NBS is saying
The NBS enjoined members of the public to discountenance the purported death of the SG.
It said in the statement, “The Bureau wishes to state that there is no iota of truth in what was published by an online medium and considers the publication as the height of irresponsible journalism and a figment of the imagination of the publisher.
“The fact of the matter is that the Statistician-General was slightly indisposed on Saturday and following medication is now recuperating.
“We are well certain that he would, in a matter of a few days, be back to his desk and continue his work in repositioning the NBS as the foremost national statistics agency in Africa and among the best globally.”
Why you should know
- Dr Simon Harry was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the new Statistician-General of the Federation and also head the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in August last year.
- Harry joined the Federal Office of Statistics as Statistician 11 in 1992 and rose to the position of substantive Director of Statistics in 2019.
- In the course of his civil service career, he contributed to several reform initiatives including the reform of the then Federal Office of Statistics which was transformed to the current National Bureau of Statistics.
- Harry’s other achievements include contributions to reforming Nigeria’s Statistical System which resulted in the creation and establishment of state bureau of statistics at the sub-national level.
