NPC Commences Birth, Death Digital Registration in Niger State

By YM Bina

The National Population Commission, NPC, has announced the full commencement of digital registration of births and deaths across Niger State and Nigeria under the new Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, E-CRVS, system known as the ‘VitalReg platform’.

The digital registration which began on July first twenty-twenty six is aimed at providing faster, more efficient and accessible civil registration services nationwide.

The National Chairman of National Popution Commission ,Doctor Aminu Yusuf disclosed this during a press briefing in Minna, described the rollout as one of the most significant reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria.

Represented by the Director, Niger State NPC, Mallam Musa Yusuf Sabo, who said the VitalReg platform will provide twenty- four-hour online access to services, digital certificate issuance where applicable. Adding that the platform is built for secure interoperability with other government digital identity systems.

He stated that this has eliminated paperwork and waiting times, automated data validation for improved accuracy, and a more secure national CRVS database capable of supporting other national data systems.

According to him, the NPC has signed a partnership compact on the decentralisation and localisation of birth registration and legal identity with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, UNICEF, and Barnksforte Technologies Limited.

The chairman noted that the partnership is aimed at improving access and grassroots participation in civil registration processes and ultimately improving data accuracy and inclusivity across the country.

He explained that the platform is being run under a public-private partnership with Barnksforte Technologies Ltd, which serves as the Commission’s technical partner responsible for system availability, cybersecurity, and upgrades.

Doctor Yusuf revealed that the initiative builds on the E-CRVS system launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November eight, twenty _twenty _three, alongside the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on CRVS, and is now fully operational across the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The NPC National Chairman said Nigeria records an estimated five million births yearly, yet a large share goes undocumented, while he put birth registration coverage at about fifty seven percent nationwide, while death registration remains below twenty percent, leaving many Nigerians without legal identity and limiting data for national planning.

He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidized, stressing that the fee review was not intended to restrict access.