The National Population Commission (NPC) has officially commenced nationwide full digital registration of births and deaths through the VitalReg platform under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system.
Announcing the development at a press briefing in Abuja, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, said the initiative, which became operational on July 1, 2026, is now being implemented across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
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He described the rollout as a historic milestone in Nigeria’s civil registration system, noting that it would strengthen the generation of vital statistics, improve service delivery and ensure every birth and death in the country is accurately captured through a secure digital platform.
According to Dr. Yusuf, the initiative 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 Ahmed Tinubu on November 8, 2023.
He said the digital platform would provide faster and more efficient registration services, round-the-clock online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork and waiting time, improved data accuracy through automated validation, and a more secure national database.
The NPC Chairman disclosed that Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, but many births and deaths remain unregistered. He said birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent, while death registration is below 20 per cent, limiting access to legal identity and reliable demographic data for national planning.
To improve coverage, he 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.
Dr. Yusuf further announced that the VitalReg platform is interoperable with other government institutions within Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem, supporting the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda and integrated identity management system.
He also revealed that the Commission had 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 improve access to registration services at the community level.
The NPC Chairman explained that while birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidised, the Commission has reviewed fees for specialised administrative services such as record modifications, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests to ensure the sustainability of the digital infrastructure.
He called on state governments, local government councils, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, development partners and the media to support the initiative by encouraging prompt registration of all births and deaths across the country.
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Dr. Yusuf reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system through digital transformation, improved data quality, stakeholder collaboration and enhanced service delivery as part of its seven-point agenda.