The National Population Commission (NPC) has launched a nationwide digital registration system for births and deaths aimed at modernising civil registration and improving Nigeria’s demographic data management….
The National Population Commission (NPC) has launched a nationwide digital registration system for births and deaths aimed at modernising civil registration and improving Nigeria’s demographic data management.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, NPC Chairman, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the VitalReg platform under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system became fully operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on July 1, 2026.
Yusuf described the initiative as “one of the most significant reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria,” saying it would improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and ensure that every birth and death is securely documented through a digital platform.
He said the reform builds on the launch of the E-CRVS system and the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics by President Bola Tinubu in November 2023.
He added that it aligns with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda.
The NPC chairman expressed concern over low registration rates, revealing that although Nigeria records about five million births annually, birth registration coverage is only about 57 per cent, while death registration remains below 20 per cent nationwide.
“Low registration rates undermine national planning and deny many citizens legal identity,” he said.
To improve coverage, Yusuf said the commission has established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and plans to expand the network to about 8,000 centres.
According to him, the VitalReg platform will provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork, improved data accuracy through automated validation and a more secure civil registration database.
“The platform is designed to modernise birth and death documentation, improve accessibility and serve as a foundational database that supports other national data systems,” he said.
Yusuf added that the platform would interface with other government institutions within Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem to support an integrated national identity management system.
As part of efforts to expand access at the grassroots, the commission signed a partnership compact with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Limited to decentralise birth registration and legal identity services.
He also announced a review of fees for specialised administrative services such as record modifications, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests, while assuring Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidised.
Yusuf said Barnksforte Technologies Limited is serving as the commission’s technical partner under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement, providing system availability, cybersecurity and technology upgrades.
He called on state governments, local councils, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media to support the initiative by encouraging prompt registration of births and deaths nationwide.
