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 system.
NPC Federal Commissioner representing Yobe, Mr Tonga Bularafa, disclosed this during a media briefing in Damaturu on Tuesday, marking the commencement of the exercise in the state.
Bularafa said the commission plans to increase the centres to about 8,000 to improve access to registration services and ensure births and deaths are promptly captured nationwide.
He said the digital registration initiative, which became operational on July 1, is being implemented through the VitalReg platform across the 17 LGAs of Yobe.
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.
Bularafa expressed concern that although Nigeria records an estimated 5 million births annually, millions of births and deaths remain unregistered.
He said birth registration coverage stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 per cent, stressing that the gaps deny many citizens legal identity.
The commissioner said the VitalReg platform will provide faster registration, round-the-clock online access, digital certificate issuance, improved data validation, and reduced paperwork.
Bularafa said NPC partnered with ALGON, NIMC, UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Ltd. to decentralise birth registration and legal identity services to the grassroots.
He called on state and local governments, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, CSOs and the media to support prompt registration of all births and deaths
