National Assembly Moves To Translate Laws Into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Other Local Languages
By IFEOMA IZUCHUKWU
Bringing the Law Closer to Nigerians
THE National Assembly is preparing to translate Nigerian laws into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and other local languages as part of a broader effort to make legislative information easier for citizens to access and understand.
The initiative was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Henry Nwawuba, while declaring open the 2026 National Assembly Library Week in Abuja.
The three-day programme, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People,” focuses on legislative research, access to information and the preservation and effective use of parliamentary records.
According to Nwawuba, translating laws into local languages would help more Nigerians understand legislation that directly affects their daily lives.
Digitising Parliament’s Institutional Memory
Beyond translation, the National Assembly is pursuing a wider digitisation programme designed to preserve parliamentary records and improve access to legislative information.
Nwawuba described the National Assembly Library as more than a collection of books. Rather, he said, it serves as a knowledge infrastructure for the legislature and a repository of parliamentary records.
The library is therefore upgrading its electronic repositories and E-Library while developing a mobile application that will provide lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and members of the public with easier access to authoritative documents.
These include Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports and Acts passed by the National Assembly.
The Trust Fund is also developing a Bills Tracker through which users will be able to follow bills and monitor their movement through the legislative process.
Making Legislative Procedures Easier to Understand
The digitisation programme is not limited to simply placing documents online.
Nwawuba said the library was also developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify bills, Acts and legislative procedures.
That approach could help bridge the gap between the technical language of legislation and the everyday experiences of citizens.
The library also plans to organise public policy dialogues to encourage greater participation in public hearings and create more opportunities for interaction between legislators, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the initiatives are expected to help tackle the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of parliamentary documents.
The Problem of Authentic Legal Documents
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, placed particular emphasis on the need to protect the integrity of parliamentary records as digitisation expands.
He said Parliament could not be fully transparent if its records could not be found, understood and trusted.
Ogunlana identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as important elements of Nigeria’s democratic memory. The Order Paper, for instance, sets out the agenda for legislative business.
He warned that digital technology had also made it easier for incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised bills and Acts to be manipulated and circulated.
For that reason, he argued that the authenticity of legislation must be traceable. It must be possible to establish which version of a document is authoritative and the legal process through which it emerged.
The LFN 2004 Challenge
The issue becomes particularly important because of the continued use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004.
Ogunlana explained that the 2004 compilation reflected the laws covered by that particular revision exercise. It was not automatically updated every time a new Act was enacted.
Consequently, maintaining a current and authoritative consolidated body of federal legislation remains an institutional challenge.
The planned digital infrastructure could therefore serve not only as an access platform but also as a mechanism for improving the preservation, authentication and retrieval of legislative records.
AI, Cybersecurity & the New Digital Risk
However, greater digitisation also brings new risks.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented at the event by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly amid growing misinformation, disinformation and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
He described the library as a critical link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making.
Similarly, Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, said legislative records were essential to understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
Tajudeen noted that technology and artificial intelligence could improve legislative research, records preservation and information access. However, he stressed that their adoption must be guided by accuracy, security and professional judgment.
Ogunlana equally called for stronger cybersecurity, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems, digital preservation and staff training.
Digitisation, he warned, could make records easier to search and disseminate while simultaneously exposing them to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation.
From Repository to Public Knowledge Institution
For the National Assembly Library, the broader ambition is therefore to move beyond simply storing parliamentary documents.
Ogunlana said the library should become 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, also called for sustained investment in libraries and modern information technology.
He further urged stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Ambassador Debo Oyewale, said African legislatures could learn from one another in building institutions capable of preserving legislative memory.
Taken together, the initiatives point to a broader attempt to connect Nigeria’s legislative past with its present information environment. If successfully implemented, local-language translations, authenticated digital records, bills tracking and simplified legislative materials could give more citizens a direct route to understanding the laws made in their name.
