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The National Population Commission (NPC) has called for the establishment of a harmonised national framework for marriage and divorce registration to strengthen citizens’ legal rights and supply reliable vital statistics for national planning.
The Overseeing Chairman of the NPC, Mrs. Mary Afan, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during the North-Central Zonal Consultation on the Draft Harmonized Protocol for Marriage and Divorce Registration in Nigeria.
Afan, represented by the Director of the Public Affairs Department, Alhaja Sherifat Olurode, emphasized that marriage and divorce carry significant legal consequences for spousal support, child custody, property rights, and inheritance.
She stated that standardised registration and certification are essential for protecting these rights while generating data for evidence-based policymaking, social protection programs, gender equality initiatives, and efforts to curb child marriage.
Highlighting current challenges, Afan noted that civil registration in Nigeria remains fragmented, relying on paper-based processes and varied institutional procedures with limited inter-agency data exchange.
“The draft protocol seeks to establish common procedures, clarify institutional responsibilities, and strengthen the link between notification, registration, certification, and data management through the electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system,” Afan stated.
Supporting the initiative, NPC Director-General Dr. Abuh Mohammed, represented by Head of Birth and Death Registration Mrs. Adaku Obodo, pointed out that marriage and divorce records have historically been kept in silos.
He stressed that a country of Nigeria’s size requires a unified national database to track specific fertility rates and monitor early marriage trends.
Speaking on behalf of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Data for Development Analyst Dr. Taiwo Ibinaiye advocated for a real-time national database. He noted that a robust CRVS system secures legal inheritance rights particularly for women and provides a continuous baseline that can reduce reliance on costly population censuses.
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative Mrs. Fidelia Abbas underscored that civil registration forms the foundation of legal identity and child protection. Noting that birth registration coverage in Nigeria currently stands at approximately 40 per cent, she emphasised that harmonising marriage and divorce records is crucial for preserving family identity documentation and safeguarding children during domestic transitions.
From a judicial perspective, Aminu Saad, a Judge at the Sharia Court of Appeal, observed that a centralized registry would streamline court proceedings and resolve complex inheritance disputes by providing verifiable proof of marital relationships.
The Abuja consultation is one of four zonal review sessions aiming to align the draft protocol with Nigeria’s statutory, customary, Islamic, and Christian marriage practices. First conceptualized at a national workshop in July 2025, the protocol leverages the electronic CRVS system, including the VITALREG platform, to drive digitisation, decentralisation, and secure data governance across the country. (NAN)
