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By Bilkis Abdulraheem Lawal
The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the nationwide digital registration of births and deaths under its Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, marking a significant milestone months after Bilkis Abdulraheem Lawal highlighted gaps in Nigeria’s fragmented birth and death registration system and the need for an interoperable digital identity framework.
Announcing the rollout at a press briefing in Abuja, NPC Chairman, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the VitalReg platform is operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, describing it as one of the most transformative reforms in Nigeria’s civil registration history.
According to him, the platform will deliver faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, improved data validation and a more secure national database that supports other government digital identity systems.
Yusuf noted that although Nigeria records about five million births annually, birth registration coverage stands at about 57 per cent, while death registration remains below 20 per cent, leaving millions without legal identity and limiting reliable demographic data for national planning.
To improve access, he said the commission has established 4,011 registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and plans to expand the number to about 8,000.
The commission also announced a partnership 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 grassroots.
The nationwide rollout comes as Nigeria intensifies efforts to build an integrated digital identity ecosystem, addressing concerns previously raised by Lawal’s reporting on the need for seamless digital birth and death registration to strengthen governance, service delivery and evidence-based planning.
