The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the nationwide digital registration of births and deaths through the VitalReg platform under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, marking a major step in Nigeria’s efforts to modernise civil registration and improve demographic data management.
NPC Chairman, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, announced the development on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja, disclosing that the digital registration system became fully operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on July 1, 2026.
He described the initiative as one of the most significant reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria, noting that it would enhance service delivery, strengthen data integrity and ensure that every birth and death occurring in the country is accurately documented through a secure digital platform.
According to 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 Tinubu in November 2023. He said the reform aligns with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda and supports the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The NPC chairman expressed concern over low registration rates in the country, revealing that Nigeria records about five million births annually, while birth registration coverage currently stands at approximately 57 per cent.
He added that death registration remains below 20 per cent nationwide, a situation he said undermines national planning and denies many citizens legal identity.
To address the challenge, Yusuf said 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 centres nationwide.
He added that the commission is also strengthening partnerships with key stakeholders to improve the capacity of registration personnel and ensure timely documentation of vital events.
He explained that the VitalReg 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 for civil registration.
“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 further disclosed that the platform has been designed to interface with government institutions across Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem, thereby promoting greater efficiency and supporting efforts toward an integrated national identity management system.
As part of efforts to deepen access to registration services at the grassroots level, 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 and localise birth registration and legal identity services across communities.
The NPC chairman also announced a review of fees for specialised administrative services, including record modifications, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests.
He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidised and that the review was not intended to create barriers to access.
According to him, the VitalReg platform is being operated under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement with Barnksforte Technologies Limited, which serves as the commission’s technical partner responsible for system availability, cybersecurity and technological upgrades.
Yusuf called on state governments, local councils, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society groups and the media to support the implementation of the initiative by encouraging prompt registration of births and deaths across the country.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening Civil Registration and Vital Statistics as a key component of its seven-point agenda, stressing that reliable demographic data remains critical to effective governance, evidence-based planning and national development.
