| By: Francis Onyemachi
The National Population Commission has launched an online platform for the registration of births and deaths across Nigeria, transitioning to a fully digital civil registration system.
The Commission said the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) platform became operational on July 1, 2026, allowing Nigerians to register births and deaths online without visiting registration centres for most processes.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the chairman of the NPC, Dr Aminu Yusuf, said the initiative would modernise the registration of vital events and improve national planning by providing more accurate and reliable population data.
He described the rollout as a commendable achievement in strengthening Nigeria’s civil registration system.
“It is my distinct honor and privilege on behalf of the National Population Commission to formally announce the full commencement of the digital registration of births and deaths on the vital record platform under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, effective 1st July 2026.”
Yusuf further noted that the platform is now operational across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, stating that the project builds on the launch of the E-CRVS system and the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November 8, 2023.
According to him, Nigeria records an estimated five million births every year, yet millions of children are still unregistered.
He disclosed that birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57% nationwide, while death registration remains below 20%.
“These gaps deprive many Nigerians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective national planning,” he said.
To improve access to registration services, Yusuf said the Commission has established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas. He added that the number will be expanded to about 8,000 centres.
The NPC chairman said the digital platform provides faster processing, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork and waiting time, automated data validation, stronger database security and a foundational database that will support other national data systems.
He also announced that the Commission had signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Bankforte Technologies Limited to decentralise and strengthen birth registration services across the country.
On funding, Yusuf said the Commission had reviewed charges for specialised administrative services, including record modification, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests, to support the long-term sustainability of the digital platform.
He, however, assured Nigerians that birth registration and birth notification services would still be highly subsidised as part of the Commission’s commitment to achieving universal birth registration.
