TheCable

Nasir Kwarra, director-general of the National Population Commission (NPC), says the commission has developed an application to ensure digital registration of births and deaths in the country.

Kwarra disclosed this on Wednesday at the 2022 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day in Abuja.

NPC boss said the commission was reviewing the current births and deaths compulsory Act 1992 to accommodate the emerging technologies within the civil registration and vital statistics systems.

“As part of this integration and digitalisation efforts, the commission has developed the VitalReg Pro platform, a data collection and reporting mobile application software built for the online and offline births and deaths registration,” he said.

“The software application was employed by the over 400 volunteers acting as sub-registrars who used their android phones to register births at the households, communities and health fixed posts during the birth registration and Supplemental Immunisation Activities.”

The federal government, through the NPC, had also announced its plans to hold a national census next year after the general election.

In December 2020, NPC estimated 206 million people are living in Nigeria — an increase of eight million people in two years.

The country’s national census was last conducted in 2006.