The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced digital birth and death registration in Niger State as part of a nationwide initiative aimed at delivering faster, more efficient and accessible civil registration services to Nigerians.
Niger_State in in North-Central Nigeria
The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the full digital registration of births and deaths across Niger State and the rest of the country under its new Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, known as the VitalReg platform.
The nationwide digital registration exercise, which officially began on July 1, 2026, is designed to provide faster, more efficient and accessible civil registration services for Nigerians.
In a statement issued in Minna, the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Aminu Yusuf, described the rollout of the VitalReg platform as one of the most significant reforms in the history of civil registration in Nigeria.
The NPC Director in Niger State, Yusuf Sabo, said the new platform offers 24-hour online access to birth and death registration services, including the issuance of digital certificates where applicable.
He added that the system is designed to securely integrate with other government digital identity platforms
According to him, the VitalReg platform eliminates cumbersome paperwork and long waiting times through automated data validation, improving the accuracy of records while creating a more secure national Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) database to support governance and national planning.
Sabo further disclosed that the Commission 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.
He said the collaboration is aimed at expanding access to civil registration services at the grassroots, increasing public participation, and improving the accuracy and inclusiveness of national identity data.
The NPC Director explained that the VitalReg platform is being implemented under a public-private partnership with Barnksforte Technologies Limited, which serves as the Commission’s technical partner responsible for system availability, cybersecurity, and continuous upgrades.
He noted that the initiative builds on the E-CRVS system launched by President Bola Tinubu on November 8, 2023, alongside the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.
According to him, the system is now fully operational across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The NPC Chairman observed that although Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, a significant number remain undocumented.
He said birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent, while death registration remains below 20 per cent, leaving millions of Nigerians without legal identity and limiting the availability of reliable demographic data for national development.
He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services remain highly subsidised, stressing that the recent fee review was not intended to discourage or restrict access to civil registration services.
