The National Assembly is planning a major overhaul of the way parliamentary records and legislation are stored, authenticated and accessed, including translating federal laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other Nigerian languages.
The planned reforms are also expected to include a mobile application for legislative information, a Bills Tracker, digital repositories and simplified video and infographic explanations of laws and legislative procedures.
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Henry Nwawuba, executive secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Library Week.
The three-day event, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People,” focuses on improving legislative research, access to information and the preservation of Nigeria’s parliamentary history.
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Mr Nwawuba said the National Assembly Library was no longer simply a place for storing books and documents but an important part of the legislature’s knowledge infrastructure and institutional memory.
He said the library holds important records of Nigeria’s democratic development, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports, Acts passed by the National Assembly, gazetted laws and oversight manuals.
According to him, the National Assembly Library Trust Fund is investing in electronic repositories and upgrading its E-Library to make such materials easier to retrieve and use.
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He said the planned mobile application would provide lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and members of the public with easier access to parliamentary information.
The library is also developing a Bills Tracker that would allow users to follow bills and monitor their movement through the legislative process.
Mr Nwawuba said the library would produce infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to make legislation and parliamentary procedures easier for Nigerians to understand.
He said translating laws into major Nigerian languages would further expand access to legislative information, particularly for citizens who may not be proficient in English.
The initiative, he said, would also support greater public participation in the legislative process through policy dialogues and other platforms that bring lawmakers, citizens, researchers and civil society organisations together.
Authenticity of parliamentary records
Mr Nwawuba said the reforms were also intended to address inconsistencies in parliamentary documents and the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.
The issue featured prominently in remarks by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, who warned that the rapid spread of digital information had increased the risk of altered or unauthorised legislative documents being circulated.
Mr Ogunlana said the National Assembly could not be truly independent without the institutional capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its records.
He identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as some of the key records that constitute Nigeria’s legislative memory.
He explained that while the Order Paper sets out the business before the legislature, the Votes and Proceedings document decisions taken during legislative sittings, while the Hansard provides a record of debates and contributions by lawmakers.
The clerk warned against the circulation of incomplete, outdated or altered copies of Bills, Acts and other parliamentary documents.
He said digital technology had made it possible for manipulated documents to reach thousands of people within minutes, making authentication increasingly important.
“The integrity of an Act depends not merely on the existence of a document, but on the ability to establish which version is authentic, which is authoritative and the legal process through which it emerged,” he said.
Mr Ogunlana called for stronger collaboration between the National Assembly, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission and the Federal Government Press to ensure that Nigerians can easily access current and authoritative versions of federal laws.
He also pointed to the continued reliance on the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, as an example of the challenges involved in maintaining an up-to-date body of federal legislation.
He explained that the LFN 2004 reflected the laws covered by the revision exercise and was not automatically updated each time a new Act was enacted.
Digitisation and cybersecurity
Mr Ogunlana said the expansion of digital parliamentary records would require corresponding investment in cybersecurity and digital preservation.
He listed secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff training among the measures needed to protect parliamentary records.
According to him, digitisation would make legislative information easier to search, access and distribute but could also expose records to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.
He, therefore, called for digital platforms that are both accessible and secure, with electronic records that can be verified, traced and authenticated.
The Clerk said the National Assembly Library should move beyond its traditional role as a repository to become an institution where parliamentary knowledge is preserved, authenticated and made accessible to lawmakers, researchers, journalists, civil society organisations, students and the wider public.
Lawmakers seek greater use of library
Representing the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, at the event, Enugu West Senator Osita Ngwu urged lawmakers to make greater use of the National Assembly Library, particularly amid the growing challenge of misinformation and disinformation and the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Mr Ngwu described the library as a link between evidence, knowledge and legislative decision-making and called for sustained support for its development.
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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, said legislative records were essential to understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
Mr Abbas said the strength of a legislature should not be measured only by the laws it passes but also by its ability to document its activities, preserve institutional knowledge and make such information available to future generations.
He said technology and artificial intelligence could strengthen legislative research, records preservation and public access to information but stressed that their use must be guided by accuracy, security, professional judgement and the protection of parliamentary records.
The President of the Nigerian Library Association, Lawal Umar, called for sustained investment in libraries and information technology to improve access to legislative information.
He also urged greater collaboration between the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly.
The Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Debo Oyewale, said African parliaments could learn from one another in developing systems for preserving legislative memory, improving access to information and strengthening democratic institutions.
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