The National Population Commission (NPC) has unveiled 131 digital registration centres across Anambra State, as officials warn that millions of births and deaths in Nigeria still go unrecorded.
Chidi Ezeoke, the NPC Federal Commissioner representing Anambra, made the announcement on Friday in Awka during an event marking the 2026 World Population Day and the official rollout of the electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e-CRVS) system.
Mr Ezeoke disclosed that Nigeria records an average of five million births annually, yet birth registration coverage stands at just 57 per cent nationwide. Death registration, he said, remains below 20 per cent, leaving millions without legal identity and depriving the nation of reliable demographic data essential for effective planning and resource allocation.
The commissioner confirmed that the digital registration platform, VitalReg, became operational nationwide on July 1, describing it as a major milestone in Nigeria’s CRVS system.
“It will ensure that every birth and death is captured through a digitally enabled registration platform,” he said.
According to Mr Ezeoke, 4,011 functional registration centres have been established across all 774 local government areas, with plans to expand to approximately 8,000 centres nationwide. In Anambra, 131 centres are now operational across the 21 local government headquarters and several communities, with more proposed.
He explained that VitalReg would offer faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance, reduced paperwork and waiting times, and improved data validation. The platform would also strengthen the security of Nigeria’s national CRVS database and serve as a foundational system for other national data and identity ecosystems.
Mr Ezeoke urged Nigerians and stakeholders to support the initiative by promptly registering all births and deaths. He also highlighted this year’s World Population Day theme — “Realising the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People – Today and for the Future” — and called for greater investment in education, healthcare, skills development and youth participation in governance.
Earlier, Obiakonwa Okagwu, NPC State Director for Anambra, appealed to the media to amplify the civil registration message across the state and urged residents to treat the registration of births and deaths as a national responsibility.