NPC rolls out digital birth, death registration across Benue’s 23 LGAs
By Peter Duru, Makurdi
The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced full digital registration of births and deaths in Benue State under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system, with the exercise now operational across the state’s 23 local government areas, 273 council wards and 79 registration centres.
The Federal Commissioner representing Benue State at the NPC, Barr. Patricia Iyanya Kupchi, announced the rollout in Makurdi, describing the initiative as a major step towards strengthening Nigeria’s civil registration system and ensuring that every birth and death in the state is documented through a secure, technology-driven platform known as VitalReg.
According to her, the digital registration became fully operational on July 1, 2026, following a directive from the NPC headquarters as part of the nationwide implementation of the E-CRVS system.
She said, “This marks a major milestone in our efforts to strengthen civil registration, improve the quality of demographic data and ensure that every birth and every death occurring in Benue State is properly recorded through a modern, secure and technology-driven system.”
Kupchi explained that the initiative followed the launch of the E-CRVS system by President Bola Tinubu in November 2023, noting that it underscored the Federal Government’s commitment to digital innovation, improved identity management and efficient public service delivery.
She stressed that civil registration extends beyond the issuance of birth and death certificates, saying it guarantees every child a legal identity, protects citizens’ rights and provides government with credible demographic data for planning in education, healthcare, security, social welfare and economic development.
“Although significant progress has been made over the years, many births and deaths in our communities are still not registered. This affects not only the rights of individuals but also government planning and resource allocation. It is therefore important that every birth and every death is registered promptly,” she said.
The commissioner said the VitalReg platform would simplify registration by providing faster services, stronger protection of personal records, reduced paperwork, improved digital validation of information and a more reliable database for development planning at the state and national levels.
She added that the platform offers both self-service and assisted-service options to cater for users regardless of their digital literacy or internet access, while also integrating with other government digital identity systems to improve coordination among public institutions.
Kupchi said, “The platform is also designed to work with other government digital identity systems, thereby improving coordination among relevant institutions and making public services more efficient.
“Beyond technology, successful implementation requires deep collaboration. The NPC has officially signed a partnership compact on the Decentralization and Localization of Birth Registration and Legal Identity with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), UNICEF and Barnksforte Technologies Limited.
“This alliance aims to decentralize and localize registration services at the community level, improving accessibility, enhancing operational efficiency and strengthening grassroots participation in civil registration processes, while improving data accuracy and inclusiveness across the 273 wards in Benue State.”
She called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, healthcare workers, local government authorities, civil society organisations and the media to intensify awareness campaigns to encourage families to register births and deaths promptly.
Kupchi reassured residents that birth registration remains highly subsidised in line with the NPC’s policy of achieving universal birth registration under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, explaining that administrative charges apply only to specialised services such as corrections, certificate re-issuance, attestations and verification requests.
“Our goal is not to create barriers but to improve service delivery for everyone,” she said.
The commissioner thanked the Benue State Government, local government councils, development partners, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, technical partners and the media for supporting the implementation of the programme.
She also commended the management and staff of the NPC in Benue State for their commitment to the successful rollout of the digital registration system.
Kupchi urged residents to take advantage of the new platform by registering every birth and death promptly.
“Together, we can build a modern, reliable and inclusive civil registration system that guarantees every child a legal identity, provides accurate demographic data for planning and supports sustainable development in Benue State and Nigeria,” she said.
Also speaking, former Secretary of the Commission and Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Benue State chapter, and Lead of the Onah Adeyi International Disability Centre (OAIDC), commended the launch of the initiative in the state.
He praised the Federal Commissioner for promoting inclusiveness, particularly by ensuring that persons with disabilities were not left out of the registration process.
The commissioner demonstrated the efficiency of the digital registration platform with the successful registration of one-month-old Ikpanyar Awai.
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