NASS says it will translate federal laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other Nigerian languages while expanding digital access to parliamentary records.
The National Assembly is set to translate Nigerian laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other local languages as part of a wider plan to digitise parliamentary records and make legislative information easier for citizens to access and understand.
Henry Nwawuba, Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week.
The three-day programme, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People”, is focused on improving access to legislative information, supporting research and strengthening the library’s role in preserving Nigeria’s parliamentary history.
The official programme runs from September 28 to October 1.
NASS targets wider access to laws
Nwawuba said the planned translation would help more Nigerians understand legislation that affects their daily lives, particularly citizens who may not readily access or understand laws written in English.
He described the library as “the knowledge infrastructure of the legislature and a repository of parliamentary records”, saying it was working to provide lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and the public with authoritative documents, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports and Acts passed by the National Assembly.
The Trust Fund is also upgrading its electronic library and developing a National Assembly Library mobile application. A Bills Tracker is planned to allow users to monitor legislation as it moves through the parliamentary process.
Nwawuba said the library was developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify Bills, Acts and legislative procedures for the public.
The National Assembly already provides online access to parliamentary resources, including legislation, Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard, through its official website.
Digital push also targets fake records
The digitisation programme is also intended to address the circulation of incomplete, altered or unauthorised parliamentary documents.
Clerk to the National Assembly Kamoru Ogunlana said the legislature could not be fully independent without the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional records.
He identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as important components of Nigeria’s “democratic memory” and warned that digital technology had made it easier for altered or unauthorised documents to be widely circulated.
“The integrity of an Act depended not merely on the existence of a document, but on the ability to establish which version was authentic, which was authoritative and the legal process through which it emerged,” Ogunlana said.
He also pointed to the continued use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, as an example of the challenges involved in maintaining an up-to-date consolidated body of federal legislation. He said the 2004 compilation was not automatically updated whenever a new Act was enacted.
Ogunlana called for stronger cybersecurity, digital preservation, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff training as more parliamentary records move online.
Lawmakers seek stronger use of library
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented at the event by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library amid rising misinformation, disinformation and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
Akpabio described the library as a “critical link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making” and called for continued support for its development.
House Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, represented by House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, said legislative records were essential to understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
Abbas said the strength of a legislature should be measured not only by the laws it enacts, but also by how effectively it documents its activities, preserves institutional knowledge and makes that information available to future generations.
The initiatives place public access alongside preservation as key priorities for the National Assembly Library. If implemented, the translation programme would also introduce another layer of access to federal legislation for Nigerians who are more comfortable reading major indigenous languages than English.
