The National Assembly has announced plans to make Nigerian laws available in Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other indigenous languages as part of a wider effort to improve public access to legislative information.
The initiative will be implemented alongside the digitisation of parliamentary records and the expansion of the National Assembly’s electronic library services.
Politics Nigeria reports that 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 is themed, “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”
Nwawuba said the three-day programme was designed to promote legislative research, improve access to information and encourage effective use of the resources available at the National Assembly Library.
He explained that the library was not simply a place where books and documents were kept.
He described it as a key part of the legislature’s knowledge system and a repository of records that document Nigeria’s parliamentary history.
According to him, the library is working to make important legislative materials available to lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers, journalists and members of the public.
Such materials include Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports, Acts passed by the National Assembly, gazetted laws and other official legislative documents.
Nwawuba said the planned translation of laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other local languages would help more Nigerians understand legislation that affects their daily lives.
The move is also expected to reduce the language barrier that may prevent some citizens from accessing and understanding official legislative information.
The Executive Secretary said the Trust Fund was also investing in electronic repositories and upgrading the National Assembly E-Library.
He disclosed that a National Assembly Library mobile application was being developed to allow users to access parliamentary information more conveniently.
Another planned feature is a Bills Tracker, which will allow users to follow the progress of bills as they move through different stages of the legislative process.
The library is also working on infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers that will break down Bills, Acts and legislative procedures into formats that are easier for Nigerians to understand.
Nwawuba said public policy dialogues would also be organised to encourage greater participation in public hearings and create more opportunities for interaction between lawmakers, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.
He linked the reforms to the need to tackle the circulation of fake, altered or unauthorised National Assembly documents.
Speaking on behalf of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senator Osita Ngwu urged lawmakers to make better use of the National Assembly Library.
Akpabio said the library remained important at a time when misinformation, disinformation and artificial intelligence were changing the way information was produced and circulated.
He described the library as a critical link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making and called for continued support for its development.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, also stressed the importance of preserving parliamentary records.
Abbas was represented at the event by the House Leader, Professor Julius Ihonvbere.
He said legislative records were necessary for understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic institutions.
According to him, the work of a legislature should not be measured only by the number of laws it passes.
He said proper documentation, preservation of institutional knowledge and access to legislative records were equally important.
Abbas also acknowledged the role technology and artificial intelligence could play in legislative research and records management.
He, however, stressed the need for accuracy, security and professional judgment when using such technologies.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said legislative independence would be weakened if the National Assembly could not properly generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its records.
Ogunlana identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as important parts of Nigeria’s parliamentary memory.
He explained that the Order Paper sets out the business before lawmakers, while Votes and Proceedings document decisions and activities of the legislature.
Hansard, meanwhile, preserves debates and contributions made during legislative proceedings.
The Clerk warned Nigerians against relying on incomplete, outdated or altered copies of Bills and Acts circulating online or through other channels.
He said the authenticity of a law must be established by determining the correct version of the document and the legal process through which it was enacted.
Ogunlana also raised concerns about the continued reliance on the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, as a consolidated source of federal legislation.
He explained that the LFN 2004 reflected laws covered by the revision exercise at the time and was not automatically updated every time a new Act was passed.
This, he said, made it necessary to strengthen systems for maintaining and providing access to current and authoritative federal laws.
The Clerk called for stronger cybersecurity measures as the National Assembly moves more of its records online.
He listed secure authentication, access controls, backup systems, digital preservation and staff training among the areas requiring attention.
According to him, digitisation has clear benefits because it makes records easier to search, access and share, but it also creates risks of cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.
In a related development, the National Assembly recently clarified that only the Constitution alteration bill relating to State Police Services had been transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly at that stage.
Other proposed constitutional amendments, it said, would be transmitted after they had been passed in identical form by both chambers.
