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NPC Commences Automation Of Birth Registration Centres Across 774 LGAs

Published

5 years ago

August 11, 2021

…Targets 25m children in 5 years

Joel Ajayi

As part of measures put in place to upscale birth registration in the country, the National Population Commission, NPC said it has commenced the digitization of all the registration centers in the 774 LGA headquarters.

The Chairman of the Commission, Hon. Nasir kwarra disclosed this at a press briefing to mark the 2021 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day in Abuja.

He said the Commission was worried about the low rate of birth registration in the country due to the on-going COVVID-19 pandemic that has weakened the structures of the civil registration system in many African countries.

He explained that the ongoing automation process, which is already being piloted in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja is in line with the Vision of African Union leaders and SDG goals.

Kwarra said the Commission currently has 4011 registration centres spread across the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the country but is working with the development partners to increase it to 8,000 required to achieve optimal result.

Besides this, he said the Commission is also collaborating with most health centres and local governments, whose personnel assist their registrars in collecting information on deaths and births in their facilities.

According to him, currently, about 43% of under- 5 children are registered at birth and not more than 10% of deaths are registered in Nigeria. What this translates into is that many are born and die without leaving a trace of their existence in any legal records in the country.

This he said is attributable to a whole range of causative factors including: but not limited to geographiphic, cultural and traditional reasons.

He expressed optimism that the automation process, when fully automated nationwide, will significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the vital registration system in Nigeria

The NPC boss said the celebration of CRVS Day was in pursuant to the recommendation of conference of Africa Ministers Responsible for Civil Registration held in Nouakchott, Mauritania in 2017 and endorsed by the Executive Council of the African Union the following year.

‘‘The purpose of the celebration was to increase public awareness on the importance of timely registration of vital events, particularly births and deaths, through well-functioning civil registration and vital systems.

‘‘The CRVS Day provides us with an opportunity for a reflection on the legal identity from birth to death of all persons and the realization of key human and civil rights, including the right to participate in society and economy and the right to access social services.

‘‘This can only be attained when the rights and civil liberties are found and strengthened by an efficient and effective civil registration and vital statistics systems that are inclusive, permanent, continuous, compulsory and confidential in nature.’’

In doing so, conscious efforts should be made to ensure that the Civil Registration and Vital Registration System enjoys a broad-based support that leverages the development in information technology, inter-operable and easily accessible to the generality of the people.

Having carefully navigated through its initial teething challenges, he said the Commission now at thick of an effective transformation from manual to wholly digitations, and automation of the CVRS system in Nigeria in an effort to revitalize and upgrade the system in line with the vision of the Africa Programme on Accelerated Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics.

With the support of World Bank and UNICEF, Kwarra said the Commission has developed a Five-Year Strategic Action Plan (2018-2022).

According to him, the objective of the plan is to enhance the framework for actions and guidance for National, States, LGAs and Community initiatives aimed at ensuring that all vital events are registered.

He called for strong institutional framework, robust governance mechanism and effective coordination among a wide range of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to accelerate progress towards universal civil registration and integrated identity management system.

He equally called on development partners not to relent in their collaborative efforts with the Commission in the provision of technical and material support towards achieving the desired goal in civil registration and vital statistics system in Nigeria.

In his remarks, the Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF, Ibrahim Sesay said the existence of accurate, regular and reliable statistics is imperative for evidence-based decision making in any country as well as in emergency response.

According to him, more than 50% of births of children under the age of five in Nigeria are still unregistered, which contributes 11% of unregistered births in West Africa.

He said the UNICEF has triggered a scalable process of assisting the NPC to strengthen and accelerate the birth registration service delivery at state and community levels with a focus of registering about 25 million children between 2021 and 2025.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Committee Chairman, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics at NPC, Dr. Ismaila Suleiman said the objective of the celebration was to inspire member states o accelerate the implementation of the civil registration and vital statistics in the continent in line with the global best practices.

Civil registration includes registration of births, deaths, marriages, migration which help in providing statistical data needed in planning the attainment of development goals with the potential to improve the well-being of the people.

Highlight of the event was a practical demonstration of digital registration of a new born baby with the mother.

This year’s celebration is themed: ‘‘Leadership for an essential service: Building resilient civil registration and vital statistics systems in Africa that provides innovative, integrated, and decentralized services for the post-COVID-19 period’’. It is aimed at demonstrating the essential role civil registration and vital statistics system plays in facilitating the recognition of the legal identity for all person as well as providing key data for planning, policy formulation, decision making and good governance.

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HAPPENING NOW: Gale of defection hits Ebonyi NDC as EXCO members dump party over controversial primaries

Published

3 months ago

June 22, 2026

The Gleamer

There appears no end to the controversies trailing the conduct of the party primaries held by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in different parts of the country on May 29.

The latest among the controversies is the gale of defection that hit the party in Ebonyi State, especially the resignation of the Executive Council (EXCO) members of the NDC.

As of the time of filing this report, over 11 members of the NDC State Executive Council in Ebonyi State have resigned from the party.

From letters obtained by our reporter on Monday, those who have resigned from the NDC in Ebonyi include the Deputy State Chairman; Comrade Okey Idenyi, State Secretary; Barrister Aduma Solomon Chinedu, State Youth Leader; Anthony Nwofe, Deputy State Youth Leader; Emenike Daniel Oroke.

Others are: State Welfare Officer; Hon. Ajah Cyril, five Local Government Area Party Chairmen, among others.

Reason for resignation
According to the resignation letters of the aforementioned members of the party, the decision to resign from the NDC is as a result of the conduct of the recent party primaries, which allegedly were highly compromised by a former governor of the state.

According to the aggrieved EXCO members, popular candidates of the party in the primary elections, including Architect Christian Asaga Nwali, PhD, were allegedly edged out in the primary election through a process that disregarded the will of party members and the masses.

The aggrieved EXCO members also alleged that the national leadership of the NDC prioritised not offending a former governor of the State, Senator Dr. Sam Egwu, over listening to the concerns of the grassroots.

“This decision follows the conduct of the recent party primaries, which were highly compromised by Dr. Sam Egwu, the recognized NDC leader in Ebonyi State. In our view, popular candidates including one “Double Chief” and others were allegedly edged out through a process that disregarded the will of party members and the masses.

“The National leadership prioritized not offending Dr. Sam Egwu over listening to the concerns of the grassroots. When a party abandons internal democracy and the voice of its base, it loses its foundation. More resignations are expected to follow. A party that cannot respect its own members cannot claim to represent the people,” they stated.

Deputy Chairman’s resignation letter
Meanwhile, in his resignation letter, addressed to the NDC Chairman, Ezillo Ward 2 in Ishielu LGA of Ebonyi State, dated June 21, 2026, the Deputy State Chairman, Comrade Okey Idenyi, lamented that his efforts to entrench the party in Ebonyi were betrayed, saying the process of the primary election was hijacked and that the outcome does not reflect the wishes of the people.

The letter read: “Sir, Politics they say is a game of interest. Before Mr Peter Obi joined the NDC, I had already made significant contributions to the development and formation of the party’s structure both in the state, LGAs and Wards. Precisely, I constituted the Structure of NDC in Ikwo, Ezza South, Ezza North, Ishielu and suggested names in other LGAs of Ebonyi State.

“I also made the payment for the office secretariat that is being used by the NDC in Ebonyi State. I hired labourers to clean up the space and made it look good for use. That is where the party still use till date.

“All these months I served as the State Deputy Chairman, I have taken pride that the NDC is a party that will provide credible leadership, transparency, accountability, Free, fare and sound internal reforms for the people, where the son of nobody could become somebody, whether the party is in power or outside power,

“Regrettably, in recent times, the party has taken a path that is in variance with my democratic belief and the new Nigeria project we envisage by organising a blanket primaries election, asking the party chairman to stay away from the venue, but stayed in a hotel to write results, which was later upheld as the authentic result after abandoning the other aspirants and their supporters at the party secretariat and the LGAs primary election venues. The process that made them candidates for the NDC in Ebonyi State is questionable and corrupt.

“I sincerely regret how the teeming supporters of the NDC were attacked and injured in some LGAs as they were abandoned with no one to address them at the venues slated for the Primary election but today, the news is that NDC Ebonyi State now has candidates.

“Despite my attempt to offer counsel, the party is, sadly no longer able to carry out its own rules or offer credible opposition going by so many corrupt activities going on in the party, both in the National leadership and in the States at the moment.

“It is in the light of the foregoing, that I am compelled to offer my resignation from the Nigeria Democratic Congress, effective immediately.

“While this decision was difficult to take, I, however, believe that it is in the best interest of my teaming supporters and the New Nigeria project. My resignation from NDC does not translate to quitting politics rather to align with my democratic principles and for the enthronment of good governance in Nigeria.

“Kindly ensure that my name is removed from the party’s physical and digital registers, structures, and all official mailing lists or communication platforms. I wish the NDC leadership well.”

Ebonyi Secretary resignation letter
Similarly, in his resignation letter, addressed to the NDC Chairman, Ndebor Ward in Ebonyi LGA, dated June 21, 2026, the State Secretary, Chief Barr. Aduma Solomon Chinedu, said the reason for his resignation is as a result of the national leadership of the NDC paying deaf ears to the controversies in Ebonyi State.

The letter read: “Sequel to the ongoing issues in Nigeria Democratic Congress NDC in Ebonyi State/National at large, letter dated 31st May 2026, together with the press interview which I the Secretary of the Party and the Deputy Chairman signed and submitted to the National Chairman, leader of the party, Secretary and appeal committee chairman of the NDC. For the issues bordered in Ebonyi NDC State primary, which the national chairman including the leader of the party still keeping silent and even after passing vote of rio confidence to the State Chairman Prince Enyinaya Udensi for compromise and abuse of office

“I, Chief Barr. Aduma Solomon Chinedu of the above address as the state Secretary of the party hereby resigned, hence the party has no democratic principle direction and the rule of law to pursue my political interests thereof. This is because my interest and interest of my followers in NDC, which are the foundation members of the party, are in danger of being denied their constitutional right.”

Protest by C-Sagas supporters
Recall that on Friday, June 5, over 1,000 supporters of Architect Christian Asaga Nwali (popularly known as C-Sagas), staged a peaceful protest at the Abuja offices of the NDC in Abuja, over the conduct of the Ebonyi Central Senatorial district primary election held on May 29, 2026.

The supporters of C-Sagas alleged there are rumours that the leadership of the party in Ebonyi State are making plans to declare Prof. Bernard Odoh winner of the primary election, saying the party should put the rumours to rest by declaring the result of the primary election; with C-Sagas as the winner.

Addressing journalists at the NDC offices, after submitting a letter to the party, Leader of the group, Mrs Joy Ewa, appealed to the NDC National Leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, the Presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and other leaders of the party, to urgently intervene to ensure that the people’s mandate are not stolen, saying C-Sagas clearly won the primary election.

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