The National Assembly is set to translate Nigerian laws into Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other local languages as part of efforts to make legislative information more accessible to the public.
The Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Henry Nwawuba, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week.
The event, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People,” focused on improving access to legislative records, research and parliamentary information.
Nwawuba said the National Assembly Library was working to expand access to authoritative parliamentary documents, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports and Acts passed by the legislature.
He said the library was also investing in electronic repositories, upgrading its e-library and developing a mobile application to enable lawmakers, researchers, legislative aides and members of the public to access parliamentary information more easily.
The library is also developing a Bills Tracker to allow users to follow bills and monitor their progress through the legislative process.
Nwawuba said infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers would be produced to simplify bills, Acts and legislative procedures for Nigerians.
He explained that translating laws into local languages would enable more citizens to understand legislation affecting their daily lives.
The National Assembly Library Trust Fund also plans to organise public policy dialogues aimed at increasing citizens’ participation in public hearings and strengthening interaction among lawmakers, researchers and the public.
Nwawuba said the initiatives would also help address inconsistencies in parliamentary documents and curb the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly amid the spread of misinformation, disinformation and the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Akpabio described the library as an important link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making and called for continued support for its development.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, said accurate legislative records were essential to preserving Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
He said technology and artificial intelligence could improve legislative research, preservation and access to information, but stressed the need for accuracy, security and professional judgment.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the legislature could not maintain institutional independence without the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its records.
Ogunlana identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as key components of Nigeria’s legislative memory and warned against the circulation of altered, incomplete or unauthorised parliamentary documents.
He noted that digital technology had increased the risk of manipulating and impersonating official legislative documents, making authentication and secure preservation increasingly important.
Ogunlana also highlighted challenges surrounding the continued use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, noting that the compilation did not automatically incorporate every new federal law enacted after the revision exercise.
He called for stronger cybersecurity, digital preservation, authentication systems, access controls, backups and staff training as the National Assembly expands its digital records infrastructure.
The Clerk said the library should evolve from a repository of documents into an institution that preserves, authenticates and makes parliamentary knowledge accessible to lawmakers, researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, students and the wider public.
The President of the Nigerian Library Association, Lawal Umar, called for sustained investment in libraries and information technology and stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
The Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Debo Oyewale, also called for greater cooperation among African legislatures in preserving institutional and legislative memory.
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