National Assembly To Translate Nigerian Laws Into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba

The National Assembly has announced plans to translate Nigerian laws into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and other indigenous languages as part of efforts to digitise parliamentary records and improve public access to legislative information.

The Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Henry Nwawuba, announced this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Library Week, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”

Nwawuba said the three-day event is aimed at promoting legislative research, access to information and better use of the library’s resources.

He described the library as the legislature’s knowledge infrastructure and a repository of key parliamentary records, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports and Acts of the National Assembly.

According to him, the Trust Fund is investing in electronic repositories, upgrading the library’s E-Library and developing a mobile application to give lawmakers, staff, researchers and the public easier access to legislative information.

Nwawuba added that the library is producing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify bills, Acts and legislative procedures.

He said translating laws into indigenous languages would help more Nigerians understand legislation that affects their daily lives.

The library, he added, will also hold public policy dialogues to encourage citizen participation in public hearings and promote engagement among legislators, researchers and the public.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Ngwu, urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, especially amid rising misinformation, disinformation and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, also stressed the need to preserve legislative records for future generations.

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the legislature cannot be truly independent without the ability to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional knowledge.

He cautioned that digitising parliamentary records also brings risks such as cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation, and called for stronger cybersecurity, digital preservation and authentication systems.

Ogunlana said the library must evolve from a document repository into an institution where parliamentary knowledge is preserved, authenticated and made accessible to lawmakers, researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, students and the general public.

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