By Titilope O. Abioje
The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Aminu Yusuf, has announced that Nigeria has entered a new era of civil registration with the nationwide deployment of a fully digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system.
Yusuf disclosed this on Monday at a media briefing to commemorate the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, saying the transition to the digital system marked the end of manual registration and a major transformation in the way vital events are recorded and managed in Nigeria.
The NPC chairman said the nationwide digital CRVS system was officially launched on July 1, 2026, on the VitalReg platform, describing the development as a landmark achievement that places Nigeria among African countries translating the objectives of the New CRVS Decade into concrete action.
The theme of the 2026 celebration is: “New CRVS Decade (2026–2036): Consolidating the Gains of APAI-CRVS and Securing the Future of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Africa through Integration, Decentralization and Digitalization.”
According to Yusuf, the theme aligns with Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to establish an integrated, inclusive and technology-driven civil registration system capable of capturing every birth, death and other vital event across the country.
He explained that the digital transformation had replaced fragmented, paper-based processes with an integrated electronic platform, thereby improving the quality, efficiency, security and reliability of civil registration and vital statistics.
The NPC chairman identified secure electronic storage, improved interoperability, easier access to registration services, reduced duplication and faster production of vital statistics as some of the major benefits of the digital system.
He said vital records were now securely stored in centralized electronic repositories, reducing the risks of loss, damage and unauthorized alteration associated with manual records.
Yusuf also said the VitalReg platform interfaces with other national systems, including health institutions, identity management agencies, planning bodies and statistical institutions, strengthening the country’s national data ecosystem.
He added that automated verification and unique identifiers would help reduce duplication and improve the integrity and credibility of Nigeria’s national database.
“Digitalisation enables the timely production and dissemination of vital statistics. Reliable data on births, deaths, marriages and other vital events can now be generated more quickly to support evidence-based planning, efficient service delivery and informed decision-making at all levels of government,” he said.
The NPC chairman stressed that the significance of the digital CRVS system went beyond technology, noting that accurate civil registration was critical to good governance, accountability, the rule of law, equitable resource allocation, infrastructure development and social protection.
However, Yusuf expressed concern over the low rate of civil registration in the country, revealing that more than five million children are born in Nigeria annually, while only about 40 per cent of births are registered, according to the most recent Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.
He said death registration coverage also remained “unacceptably low,” stressing that every birth, death and other vital event must be captured in the electronic CRVS system if Nigeria was to build a complete and reliable national database.
To bridge the registration gap, Yusuf said the Commission had adopted a broad partnership strategy involving government institutions, development partners, health agencies and local communities.
He recalled that in January 2025, the NPC entered into a Partnership Compact Agreement with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Bankforte Technologies Limited to decentralize civil registration services, strengthen interoperability and expand digital registration at the grassroots.
He said the Commission was also collaborating with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), state governments, health institutions and other partners to integrate birth registration into routine health services, making it possible for children to be registered as close as possible to their point of birth.
According to him, the decentralization initiative has already extended digital civil registration services to about 4,000 of the country’s 8,809 wards.
He said efforts were ongoing to extend the service to all wards nationwide.
Yusuf further disclosed that the NPC currently had more than 4,000 functional registration centres across the 774 Local Government Areas, with plans to increase the number to approximately 8,000 centres nationwide.
He said the expansion, combined with the deployment of the VitalReg platform, would bring registration services closer to citizens, particularly people in rural and underserved communities.
The NPC chairman called for increased public awareness and stronger partnerships to ensure that no child or vital event was excluded from the national database because of distance, cost or lack of access.
“As we embark on the New CRVS Decade (2026–2036), Nigeria remains firmly committed to consolidating the gains of the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (APAI-CRVS),” he said.
Yusuf also appealed to the media to support the reform by educating and mobilising Nigerians on the importance of registering births, deaths and other vital events promptly.
He described civil registration as more than a legal obligation, saying it was fundamental to legal identity, access to essential services, protection of rights and national development.
He equally called on state governments, local government authorities, traditional and religious institutions, health facilities, development partners, civil society organisations, community-based organisations and the private sector to support the NPC’s digital CRVS reform.
He said sustained advocacy, strategic investment and collective commitment would be necessary to close Nigeria’s registration gap and ensure that every Nigerian was counted.
“As we commemorate the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, let us renew our collective determination to building a fully digital, integrated and decentralised Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system that is efficient, secure, transparent and accessible to all.
“Together, we can ensure that every life counts because every vital event counts,” Yusuf said.