The National Population Commission (NPC) has launched a digital registration platform that enables Nigerians to register births and obtain birth certificates online, significantly reducing the need for physical visits to registration centres.
The Acting Director General of the commission, Mr Manasseh Aboho, announced the development on Wednesday in Abuja during the inauguration of the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e CRVS) system and the VitalReg platform.
Aboho said the new platform allows Nigerians both within the country and in the diaspora to complete birth registration and receive certificates online. He noted that physical registration centres would remain operational nationwide to cater to citizens without internet access.
Describing the initiative as a landmark reform, he said it followed years of development, pilot implementation and testing, adding that the commission was confident in the system’s long term sustainability.
According to him, the commission’s database will serve as Nigeria’s foundational identity database, enabling authorised institutions to securely access verified information through interoperable systems while ensuring strict compliance with data protection standards.
He urged parents to register their children promptly, stressing that birth registration is a fundamental right that guarantees access to essential services, including school enrolment.
Also speaking, the Federal Commissioner representing Oyo State and Director of Vital Registration, Dr Eyitayo Oyetunji, said birth registration for children between zero and five years, as well as death registration within the stipulated period, remains free of charge.
Oyetunji encouraged Nigerians to register births and deaths without delay, noting that timely registration provides reliable population data needed for effective national planning and improved service delivery.
The Team Lead of Barnksforte Technology Limited, Mr Dayo Bankole, said the platform was developed over a two year period to provide a secure and sustainable identity management system.
He disclosed that every newborn registered through the digital platform would automatically be issued a National Identification Number (NIN). He added that the system would improve data sharing among authorised agencies and help combat child trafficking through verified identity linkage.
Bankole further explained that the platform would automatically deactivate the NINs of deceased persons once their deaths were registered. He said this would help reduce identity theft and financial fraud while supporting the continuous update of the national voter register.
According to him, the platform has been certified by the National Data Protection Commission and complies with International Organisation for Standardisation security standards to ensure the protection of citizens’ personal information.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government commenced nationwide implementation of the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system and the VitalReg platform on July 1, replacing the manual registration process with a fully digital system.
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