The National Assembly is set to translate the laws of the country and other legislative materials into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and other local languages as part of efforts to make parliamentary information more accessible to citizens.
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 programme with the theme: “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People,” is focused on improving legislative research, access to information and the preservation of parliamentary records.
Nwawuba said the National Assembly Library is working to make authoritative legislative documents, including order papers, votes and proceedings, committee reports and Acts passed by the National Assembly, more accessible to lawmakers, researchers, legislative aides and members of the public.
He said the trust fund was investing in electronic repositories and upgrading the National Assembly E-Library, while also developing a mobile application to provide easier access to legislative information.
According to him, the planned application will be complemented by a bills tracker that will enable users to monitor bills and follow their progress through the legislative process.
Nwawuba added that the library is developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify Bills, Acts and legislative procedures for Nigerians.
He said translating laws into indigenous languages would enable more citizens to understand legislation affecting their daily lives and broaden public access to parliamentary information.
The National Assembly Library Trust Fund also plans to organise public policy dialogues aimed at strengthening citizens’ participation in public hearings and creating more interaction between lawmakers, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.
Nwawuba said the initiatives would also help address inconsistencies in official parliamentary documents and the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly amid the spread of misinformation and 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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere, said legislative records were essential to preserving Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
Tajudeen said the effectiveness of a legislature should be measured not only by the laws it passes but also by how well it documents its activities, preserves institutional knowledge and makes such information available to future generations.
He said technology and artificial intelligence could improve legislative research, preservation of records and access to information, but stressed that their use must be guided by accuracy, security and professional judgment.
Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the legislature cannot be truly independent without the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional knowledge and records.
Ogunlana warned against the circulation of incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised Bills, Acts and other parliamentary documents, noting that digital technology had made manipulation and unauthorised distribution easier.
He stressed that the integrity of an Act depends on the ability to establish its authentic and authoritative version and trace the legal process through which it emerged.
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The clerk also highlighted the challenges surrounding the continued use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, explaining that the compilation is not automatically updated whenever a new Act is enacted.
He called for stronger cybersecurity, digital preservation, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff training as parliamentary records become increasingly digitised.
Ogunlana said digitisation would improve access to legislative information but could also expose parliamentary records to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.
He therefore called for digital platforms that are both accessible and secure, with electronic records maintained in a manner that makes them available, authentic and traceable.
