Nearly one in four men who underwent paternity testing at Smart DNA Nigeria was excluded as the biological father during the laboratory’s 2025/2026 reporting period, even as the rate of negative results recorded a marginal decline.
According to the latest data from the laboratory, 23.6 per cent of recorded paternity test outcomes were negative, compared with 24 per cent in the preceding reporting period and 26.1 per cent in 2023.
The figures indicate a gradual decline in negative paternity results over the three reporting periods, although the latest rate remains significant.
Smart DNA’s Operations Manager, Elizabeth Digia, said the figures should be viewed within the context of individuals seeking answers to unresolved questions about biological parentage.
“Most of the men and women who come to us are not coming because anyone told them to. They are coming because they cannot live with the question,” Digia said.
She added that paternity testing involved sensitive family circumstances that should be handled with dignity rather than sensationalism.
The latest report also showed that men accounted for 78.6 per cent of first contacts for paternity testing, while women accounted for 15.2 per cent. Men aged 41 and above constituted the largest age group among classified male records, accounting for 48 per cent, while children aged five or younger represented 59.5 per cent of tested individuals.
The figures suggest that paternity questions are frequently being investigated when children are still very young, although the data do not establish when the suspicion first arose.
The findings also showed a notable pattern among firstborn children. Boys accounted for 56.1 per cent of negative firstborn outcomes in the latest reporting period, down from approximately 64.4 per cent in the previous period.
The result is particularly significant in a society where first sons often occupy an important position in family lineage, inheritance and succession. A negative paternity result involving a first son could therefore have implications beyond the relationship between a couple, potentially affecting family identity, inheritance claims and disputes over belonging.
The report further showed a shift in the reasons Nigerians sought DNA testing. Immigration-related DNA testing fell from 13.1 per cent to 9.7 per cent, while Peace of Mind tests increased from 83.7 per cent to 87 per cent. Vanguard
