By Taibat Ummi Yakubu
In a major push to make Nigeria’s laws easier to understand and access, the National Assembly has unveiled plans to translate federal legislation into Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other indigenous languages as part of a broader effort to strengthen public engagement with the legislative process.
The initiative, which forms part of an ongoing digital transformation programme, is expected to open up legislative information to millions of Nigerians who may not be fluent in English, helping them better understand laws and policies that directly affect their daily lives.
The Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Henry Nwawuba, disclosed the plan on Monday in Abuja while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week, a three-day event themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”
According to Nwawuba, the National Assembly Library is undergoing a significant modernization drive aimed at improving access to parliamentary records and strengthening legislative research.
He explained that the institution is far more than a traditional library, describing it as the backbone of legislative knowledge and the custodian of the country's parliamentary history.
“The library serves as the knowledge infrastructure of the legislature,” he said, noting that it houses critical records such as committee reports, Acts of Parliament, Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, and other official legislative documents.
As part of the reforms, the Trust Fund is investing in electronic repositories, upgrading its digital library services and developing a mobile application that will allow lawmakers, legislative staff, researchers and ordinary citizens to access parliamentary information more easily.
Nwawuba also revealed plans to introduce a Bills Tracker, a digital platform that will enable users to monitor the progress of proposed legislation from introduction to passage.
To further simplify legislative processes for the public, the library is developing infographics, audiovisual content and video explainers that will break down complex bills, laws and parliamentary procedures into more understandable formats.
He said translating laws into local languages would significantly expand access to legal information and encourage greater public participation in governance.
Beyond technology, the National Assembly is also planning a series of public policy dialogues designed to bring lawmakers, researchers, civil society groups and citizens together for discussions on key legislative issues.
Nwawuba noted that the reforms would also help tackle the growing challenge of fake, altered or unofficial parliamentary documents circulating in the public space.
Speaking at the event, Senate President Godswill Akpabio urged lawmakers to make greater use of the National Assembly Library, especially at a time when misinformation, disinformation and artificial intelligence are rapidly reshaping how information is created and shared.
Represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, Akpabio described the library as an essential bridge between knowledge, evidence and effective lawmaking, stressing the need for continuous investment in its growth.
Similarly, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas said preserving legislative records was vital to protecting Nigeria’s democratic heritage and strengthening governance.
Represented by House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, Abbas argued that the strength of any legislature should not be judged solely by the number of laws it passes but also by how well it preserves institutional memory and makes information available to future generations.
He acknowledged the growing role of technology and artificial intelligence in legislative work, saying they could improve research, record preservation and information management. However, he cautioned that their deployment must be guided by professionalism, security and accuracy.
Also speaking, Clerk to the National Assembly Kamoru Ogunlana warned that the legislature could not claim full institutional independence without the capacity to create, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its records.
He stressed that parliamentary transparency depends on citizens being able to access, understand and trust legislative documents.
Ogunlana identified key parliamentary records such as the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings, and the Hansard as crucial elements of Nigeria’s democratic history, warning that the spread of incomplete, outdated or manipulated legislative documents poses a serious threat to public trust.
According to him, advances in digital technology have made it easier for official documents to be altered and redistributed, making authentication more important than ever.
“The integrity of any Act is not simply about having a document available,” he said. “It is about establishing which version is authentic, authoritative and legally valid.”
The Clerk also highlighted concerns surrounding the continued reliance on the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004, explaining that the compilation does not automatically reflect new laws enacted after the revision exercise.
As the National Assembly expands its digital operations, Ogunlana called for stronger cybersecurity measures, secure authentication systems, reliable backup infrastructure and continuous staff training to safeguard parliamentary records.
While digitisation will make legislative information easier to access and distribute, he warned that it could also expose critical records to cyberattacks, impersonation and other digital threats if adequate protections are not put in place.
He maintained that the future National Assembly Library should evolve beyond being merely a storage facility for documents and become a dynamic institution dedicated to preserving, verifying and sharing parliamentary knowledge with lawmakers, journalists, researchers, students, civil society organisations and the wider public.
Also at the event, President of the Nigerian Library Association, Dr. Lawal Umar, called for greater investment in libraries and modern information technology to improve access to legislative information nationwide.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Ambassador Debo Oyewale, said African parliaments could strengthen democracy by learning from one another and building institutions capable of preserving legislative memory for future generations.
The planned translation of Nigerian laws into indigenous languages is expected to mark one of the most ambitious efforts yet to bridge the gap between lawmakers and citizens, bringing legislative information closer to communities across the country and making governance more accessible to ordinary Nigerians.
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