The National Population Commission (NPC) says it has established 4,011 functional birth and death registration centres across the 774 local government areas in the country under its Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system.

The NPC Federal Commissioner representing Yobe, Tonga Bularafa, stated this during a media briefing in Damaturu on Tuesday, marking the commencement of the exercise in the state.

Mr Bularafa said the commission was planning to increase the centres to about 8,000 to improve access to registration services and ensure that births and deaths were promptly captured nationwide.

He said the digital registration initiative, which became operational on July 1, was being implemented through the VitalReg platform across the 17 local government areas of Yobe State l.

According to him, the initiative marks a major milestone in the modernisation of Nigeria’s civil registration system and aligns with the federal government’s digital transformation agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The commission is leveraging technology to improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and guarantee that every birth and every death occurring in Nigeria is documented accurately and securely,” he said.

Mr Bularafa expressed concern that though Nigeria recorded an estimated five million births annually, millions of births and deaths remained unregistered.

He said birth registration coverage stood at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remained below 20 per cent, stressing that the gaps denied many citizens legal identity and limited the availability of reliable demographic data for national planning.

The commissioner said the VitalReg platform would provide faster registration services, round-the-clock online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, improved data validation, reduced paperwork and waiting time.

Mr Bularafa said the commission entered into a partnership with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Ltd. to decentralise birth registration and legal identity services to the grassroots.

He explained that the collaboration was expected to improve accessibility, strengthen community participation and enhance the accuracy and inclusiveness of civil registration across the country.

The commissioner called on state and local governments, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media to support the commission’s efforts by encouraging the prompt registration of births and deaths.

Mr Bularafa reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening the E-CRVS system through digital transformation, improved data quality, stakeholder engagement and enhanced service delivery.

(NAN)