The chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Dr Aminu Yusuf, has died, barely eight months after he assumed office.

Yusuf, appointed by President Bola Tinubu and sworn in as Chairman of the commission in December 2025, reportedly died on Friday.

Sources close to the family confirmed his death, though details of the cause were not immediately available at the time of filing this report.

The development came as a shock to officials and stakeholders in the population management sector, occurring less than a year after Yusuf took over the commission’s leadership and while he was actively driving major reforms in Nigeria’s civil registration and vital statistics system. NigerianNews Portal

A high-level source from the presidency confirmed the development to our correspondent.

Neither the NPC nor the family had, at the time of the report, released an official statement on the circumstances surrounding his death or burial arrangements.

His death is expected to trigger a leadership transition at the commission, which is responsible for producing population and demographic data required for national planning, policy formulation, and development programmes.

Tinubu swore him in alongside newly appointed members of the commission.

He took the oath alongside two members of the NPC, Dr Joseph Haruna Kigbu and Tonga Betara Bulatafa.

Before his appointment, Yusuf had built a career spanning education, grassroots mobilisation, politics, governance and community development.

In announcing his assumption of office, the NPC said he was born on April 15, 1960, in Wushishi, Niger State.

He attended LEA Primary School, Zungeru, and Federal Government College, Odogbolu, Ogun State.

He later became involved in public service and grassroots political mobilisation.

Between 2019 and 2023, he served as Special Adviser on Political Affairs to the Niger State Governor.

He also served in the Tinubu/Shettima presidential campaign, serving in 2022 as Assistant Director, Grassroots Mobilisation (North Central), of the Presidential Campaign Council.

Until his appointment as NPC Chairman, he was National President of the Niger State College of Education Alumni Association, Minna.

The commission also credited him with involvement in skills acquisition and empowerment programmes for women and youths in the Niger North Senatorial District.

Yusuf subsequently took over the commission, pledging to provide credible leadership and strengthen its ability to deliver reliable demographic information for national development.

One of the major initiatives during Yusuf’s short tenure was accelerating the digitalisation of Nigeria’s civil registration system. NigerianNews Portal

Only weeks before his reported death, the NPC announced the nationwide rollout of its digital birth and death registration platform, known as VitalReg, under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system.

The platform became fully operational nationwide from July 1, 2026.

Until his reported death, Yusuf remained active in the affairs of the commission.

In January 2026, he led a delegation of senior NPC officials to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, as part of the commission’s advocacy campaign on population issues.

During the visit, he sought the support of traditional institutions to promote awareness of population issues and civil registration.

For the family, colleagues and associates, it marks the loss of a public servant whose latest assignment at the NPC lasted less than a year. (The Nation)