NPC raises alarm, as over 80% of deaths in Nigeria go undocumented

The National Population Commission (NPC) has revealed a massive gap in Nigeria’s database, disclosing that over 80 percent of deaths in the country remain completely unregistered and unaccounted for.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, NPC Chairman Dr. Aminu Yusuf stated that the country’s current death registration coverage languishes below 20 percent.

While birth registration has fared significantly better, now reaching 57 percent with an estimated five million births recorded annually, the vast majority of deaths continue to pass without any official documentation.

Dr. Yusuf warned that these severe registration gaps deprive millions of Nigerians of a legal identity and starve the government of the reliable demographic data required for effective national planning. Without accurate data on mortality rates and causes of death, designing targeted healthcare interventions and distributing public resources effectively remains an uphill battle.

To bridge this data deficit, the commission has launched a nationwide digital registration drive for births and deaths. T

The new VitalReg platform, operating under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (e-CRVS) system, officially went live across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory on July 1.

The digital platform is designed to modernize the country’s outdated paper-based registry. By providing 24-hour online access, issuing digital certificates, reducing bureaucratic paperwork, and improving data validation, the NPC hopes to make registration much more accessible.

This digital shift is also expected to integrate seamlessly with Nigeria’s broader digital identity ecosystem, including the National Identification Number (NIN) database.

To ensure the system is within reach of rural communities, the NPC has established 4,011 functional registration centers across the country’s 774 local government areas, with plans to expand that number to 8,000.

The commission is also partnering with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF, and Barnksforte Technologies Limited to decentralize the process and bring these vital services directly to local communities.

While the NPC has reviewed fees for specialized administrative services like record modifications and certificate reissuances, Dr. Yusuf assured the public that primary birth registration and notification services will remain highly subsidized to ensure financial barriers do not prevent families from registering their children.