By Ayodele Abere
The National Population Commission, NPC, has announced the full commencement of nationwide digital registration of births and deaths in Nigeria under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, E-CRVS, system.
The NPC Chairman, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja, saying the VitalReg platform became operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory effective July 1, 2026.
He described the rollout as a historic milestone and one of the most transformative reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria.
Dr. Yusuf said the initiative was designed to strengthen civil registration, enhance the generation of vital statistics, and ensure that every birth and death occurring in Nigeria is documented accurately and securely.
He noted that Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, but millions go unregistered. According to him, birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 percent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 percent.
“These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning,” he said.
The Chairman disclosed that the Commission has established 4,011 functional registration centres across the 774 Local Government Areas and is working to expand the network to about 8,000.
He added that NPC is strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to build the capacity of registration personnel and guarantee prompt recording of all vital events through the VitalReg platform.
According to him, the platform will deliver faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance, reduced paperwork and waiting time, automated data validation, and a more secure national CRVS database.
The system, he said, has also been designed for secure interoperability with institutions across Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem.
Dr. Yusuf said the Commission has 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 decentralize registration services to the community level.
He explained that to sustain the infrastructure, the Commission has reviewed fees for specialized administrative services such as record modification, certificate reissuance, attestation, and verification.
He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidized in line with the Commission’s commitment to universal registration.
The Chairman said the platform is being operated under a Public-Private Partnership with Barnksforte Technologies Ltd as the technical partner to ensure system availability, cybersecurity, and continuous upgrades.
Dr. Yusuf called on all stakeholders to support the Commission in ensuring prompt registration of all births and deaths.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for inaugurating the National Coordination Committee on CRVS on November 8, 2023, and acknowledged state governments, local councils, development partners, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, and the media for their support.
The Chairman reaffirmed NPC’s commitment to strengthening CRVS as a key pillar of its Seven-Point Agenda, particularly in digital transformation, data quality, stakeholder engagement, and service delivery.
