NPC Moves to Close Nigeria’s Birth Registration Gap as Millions Remain Unregistered
By, Kamaluddeen Nuhu Ilelah:
With more than five million children born in Nigeria every year, only about forty percent of births are currently registered, leaving millions without official records of their birth.
National Population Commission, NPC, says urgent steps are needed to close the gap and ensure that every birth, death and other vital event is properly captured in the country’s civil registration system.
The Commission made this known in Bauchi by Hon. Abubakar Danburan, who read a statement on behalf of the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Dr. Aminu Yusuf, at a media briefing to commemorate the 2026 Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, CRVS, Day.
Tag “New CRVS Decade twenty-twenty six to twenty thirty: Consolidating the Gains of APAI-CRVS and Securing the Future of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Africa through Integration, Decentralisation and Digitalisation. The Commission said Nigeria had taken a major step in reforming civil registration with the nationwide launch of a fully digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system on the VitalReg platform on July first twenty-twenty six.
According to the statement, the digital system will improve security, accessibility and reliability of vital records, reduce duplication and enable government to obtain timely data for effective planning and decision-making.
The Commission said digital registration services were being extended to communities across the country, particularly rural and underserved areas, to reduce the distance, cost and bureaucratic challenges associated with registration.
It disclosed that more than four thousand functional registration centres had been established across seven hundred and seventy-four Local Government Areas, with plans to increase the number to approximately eight thousand nationwide.
The NPC also said it was collaborating with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, the National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, UNICEF, state governments and health institutions to strengthen civil registration services.
It added that efforts were underway to integrate birth registration into routine health services, ensuring that children can be registered as close as possible to the point of birth.
The Commission stressed that achieving universal civil registration requires the collective efforts of government and other stakeholders, including the media, traditional and religious institutions, health facilities, civil society organisations and community leaders.
It therefore urged Nigerians to promptly register births, deaths and other vital events, stressing that accurate civil registration is essential for legal identity, effective national planning, equitable resource allocation and sustainable development.
The Commission said its goal as Nigeria enters the new CRVS decade is to build a fully integrated, decentralised and digital system that ensures every Nigerian is counted and every vital event is recorded.
