NPC Ebonyi Announces Full Commencement of Digital Vital Registration, Seeks Stakeholders' Collaboration to Improve State's Data

The National Population Commission, Ebonyi State has officially announced the full commencement the digital registration of births and deaths on the Vital Registration Platform under the Civic Registration and Vital Statistics, E-CRVS system.

The announcement was made by the federal Commissioner representing Ebonyi State in the Commission, Jeremiah Nwankwegu in a press briefing on Thursday in Abakaliki.

The federal Commissioner said the transformative initiative builds on the historic launch of the E-CRVS system and the inauguration of the National Coordination Committee on CRVS by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on November 8, 2023, adding that the full digitization took effect on 1st July, 2026 in Ebonyi, covering the 13 LGAs of the state.

He advised the public not to accept the manually generated birth and death certificates from any registrar henceforth insisting that digital certification has taken over the old order.

Nwankwegu extolled the digital innovation as one of the most transformative reforms in the history of civic registration in Ebonyi state, reflecting the Commission's unwavering commitment to leveraging technology to improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and guarantee that every birth and death occuring in Ebonyi state is documented accurately and securely for planning and other purposes.

He regretted the low registration statistic of births and deaths, not only in Ebonyi state, but at the national level, stressing that such is not healthy for national planning and development, and called on Ebonyi citizens to avail themselves of the NPC-established registration centres across the 13 LGAs and the newly introduced self-service platform to boost the states registration statistics and give their children national birth identity.

"Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of those births and deaths go unregistered. Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 percent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 percent.

"These gaps deprive many Ebonyians of legal identity and limit the availability of reliable data needed for effective planning in the state", he said.

The Commissioner noted that the Commission in its efforts to address the above challenges has, in addition to its functional registration centres, strengthened collaboration with key stakeholders and other Agencies in the state to enhance the capacity of registration personnel and ensure that all vital events are promptly and accurately recorded through the VitalReg platform.

"The NPC has officially signed partnership compact on the decentralization and localization of birth registration and legal identity with the Association of Local Governments (ALGON), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies limited", he said, adding that the alliance was aimed at "improving accessibility, enhancing operational efficiency, and strengthening grassroots participation in civic registration process and ultimately improving data accuracy and inclusivity across the country."

He called on all stakeholders to continue cooperating and collaborating with the NPC to ensure that all births and deaths are registered promptly.

The press briefing coincided with the commemoration of the 2026 World Population Day in the state with the theme: "Realizing the hopes and aspirations of young people - today and for the future".