NASS Moves to Translate Laws into Indigenous Languages
POLITICS DIGEST — The National Assembly is set to deepen the digitisation of its parliamentary records and translate Nigerian laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other indigenous languages as part of efforts to widen public access to legislative information and preserve the country’s democratic memory.
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, themed, “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”
Nwawuba said the initiative formed part of a broader programme to promote legislative research, improve access to authoritative parliamentary information and encourage effective use of the National Assembly Library.
He described the library as more than a collection of books, saying it serves as the legislature’s knowledge infrastructure and repository of parliamentary records, research materials and institutional memory.
According to him, the library is working to ensure that lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and other stakeholders have access to authoritative documents, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports and Acts passed by the National Assembly.
He said the Trust Fund was investing in electronic repositories and upgrading the National Assembly E-Library, while also developing a mobile application to make legislative information more accessible to lawmakers, staff, researchers and members of the public.
Nwawuba also announced plans to introduce a Bills Tracker through which users would be able to follow proposed legislation and monitor its progress through the legislative process.
He said the library was developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify Bills, Acts and legislative procedures for Nigerians, while the planned translation of laws into indigenous languages would enable more citizens to understand legislation affecting their daily lives.
The Executive Secretary added that the library would organise public policy dialogues to encourage greater citizen participation in public hearings and create platforms for interaction among legislators, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.
He said the initiatives would also help address inconsistencies in parliamentary documents and the circulation of fake, altered or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.
In his goodwill message, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly amid increasing misinformation, disinformation and the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Ngwu described the library as a critical link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making and called for continued support for its development.
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Similarly, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by the 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 not be measured only by the laws it enacted but also by how effectively it documented its activities, preserved institutional knowledge and made 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 adoption must be guided by accuracy, security and professional judgment.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the National Assembly could not be truly independent without the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional knowledge and records.
Ogunlana identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as critical components of Nigeria’s democratic memory, warning against the circulation of incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised legislative documents.
He stressed that the integrity of an Act depended not merely on the existence of a document but on the ability to establish which version was authentic and authoritative and the legal process through which it emerged.
The Clerk also called for stronger cybersecurity, digital preservation, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff training as parliamentary records become increasingly digitised.
He noted that while digitisation would make legislative information easier to access, search and disseminate, it could also expose records to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.
Ogunlana therefore said digital platforms must be both accessible and secure, while electronic records must remain available, authentic and traceable.
He said the National Assembly Library should evolve beyond a repository of documents into an institution where parliamentary knowledge is preserved, authenticated and made accessible to lawmakers, researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, students and the wider public.
The President of the Nigerian Library Association, Dr Lawal Umar, called for sustained investment in libraries and modern information technology to improve access to legislative information. He also urged stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
The Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Ambassador Debo Oyewale, said African legislatures had much to learn from one another in building institutions capable of preserving legislative memory and strengthening access to parliamentary information.
The 2026 National Assembly Library Week is scheduled to run from September 28 to October 1 at the National Assembly Library Trust Fund Complex in Abuja.
