The National Population Commission (NPC) has disclosed that despite Nigeria recording an estimated five million births annually, millions of births and deaths still go completely unregistered, with birth registration coverage standing at about 57 per cent and death registration below 20 per cent nationwide.
The Commission said the registration gap leaves many Nigerians without legal identity and deprives government of reliable demographic data needed for national planning, resource allocation and policy formulation.
NPC Chairman, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while announcing the launch of the country’s Fully Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system and the nationwide rollout of the VitalReg digital platform for birth and death registration.
He noted that the digital platform, which became operational on July 1, 2026, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, is expected to improve birth and death registration, strengthen data integrity and align Nigeria’s civil registration system with international standards.
“Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of these births and deaths go unregistered.
“Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 per cent.
“These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning,” Yusuf said.
He disclosed that the Commission currently operates 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and plans to increase the number to about 8,000 to improve access to registration services.
Yusuf explained that the VitalReg platform offers round-the-clock online access to birth and death registration services, reduces paperwork and waiting time, improves data accuracy through automated validation and provides a more secure national civil registration database.
He added that the platform is designed to integrate with other government digital identity systems, including the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), in support of Nigeria’s broader digital transformation agenda.
According to the NPC chairman, implementation of the platform is being supported through a public-private partnership with Barnksforte Technology Limited, which is providing the technological infrastructure, cybersecurity and system maintenance.
He also announced that while birth registration and birth notification services would remain highly subsidised, the Commission had reviewed charges for specialised services such as record modification, certificate reissuance, attestation and verification requests to ensure the sustainability of the digital infrastructure.
Earlier, the Federal Commissioner representing Oyo State in the NPC, Dr. Eyitayo Oyetunji, described the transition to a fully digital registration system as the Commission’s most significant milestone since it commenced civil registration in 1988.
He noted that birth and death registration had been conducted manually for nearly four decades before the migration to the electronic platform.
Oyetunji added that the new system would enable Nigerians in the diaspora to register vital events through a self-service process from anywhere in the world.
He urged the media to intensify public awareness on the platform, stressing that the Federal Government continues to provide free birth registration for children aged zero to five years, as well as free death registration services nationwide.
