The Federal Government has launched a nationwide digital birth and death registration system aimed at strengthening civil registration, improving national data management and expanding access to legal identity for millions of Nigerians.
The initiative, implemented through the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, became operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on July 1. The government also assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain free for children aged between zero and five years.
The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr. Aminu Yusuf, announced the development on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja, describing the rollout as a major milestone in Nigeria’s drive to modernise civil registration and improve the country’s vital statistics.
According to Yusuf, the new VitalReg platform is designed to ensure that every birth and death in Nigeria is accurately captured through a secure, technology-driven registration process.
He noted that Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, but only about 57 per cent are officially registered, while death registration remains below 20 per cent, a gap he said has hampered national planning and denied many citizens access to legal identity.
To improve coverage, Yusuf said the Commission has established more than 4,000 registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas, with plans to expand the number to about 8,000.
He explained that the VitalReg platform will provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork, improved data accuracy and a more secure national database.
According to him, the platform has also been integrated into Nigeria’s digital identity ecosystem in line with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda.
The NPC chairman further announced a partnership involving 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.
While announcing revised fees for selected administrative services, including record modifications, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests, Yusuf stressed that birth registration and birth notification services would remain highly subsidised to support universal registration.
He called on state governments, local councils, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, development partners and the media to support the successful implementation of the digital registration system.
Yusuf reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian is registered from birth, saying the initiative would strengthen national planning, improve governance and guarantee legal identity for all citizens.