The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced full digital registration of births and deaths in Yobe State under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, with the aim of improving legal identity coverage and strengthening demographic data for national planning.
The Federal Commissioner of NPC in Yobe State, Hon. Tonga Betara Bularafa, disclosed this on Tuesday during a press briefing in Damaturu.
He said the initiative, which took effect from July 1, 2026, is now operational across the 17 local government areas of the state through the VitalReg platform.
Bularafa described the digital transition as a landmark reform in Nigeria’s civil registration system, saying it would ensure that every birth and death in the state is accurately captured through a modern, technology-driven platform.
He noted that the reform followed the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics and the launch of the E-CRVS system by President Tinubu on November 8, 2023.
The commissioner said civil registration remained essential for generating reliable population statistics needed for policy formulation, resource allocation and development planning.
According to him, Nigeria records about five million births annually, but millions of births and deaths are yet to be registered.
He said birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration is below 20 per cent.
To improve registration, Bularafa said the commission had established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and was working to increase the number to about 8,000.
He said the VitalReg platform would provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, and digital certificate issuance where applicable, reduced paperwork, improved data validation and a more secure national civil registration database.
Bularafa also said the commission had signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Limited to decentralise birth registration services and improve access at the grassroots.
He said the collaboration would enhance community participation, improve data accuracy and expand registration coverage across the country.
The commissioner disclosed that the commission had reviewed fees for specialized administrative services such as record modification, certificate reissuance, attestations and verification requests to sustain the digital infrastructure.
He, however, clarified that birth registration and birth notification services would remain highly subsidised to promote universal registration.