NASS plans local-language versions of laws and digital records

The National Assembly is planning to translate federal laws into Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and other Nigerian languages as part of a wider push to make legislative records easier to access.

The plan also covers digital repositories, an upgraded e-library, a mobile application for parliamentary information, a Bills Tracker and simpler explanations of bills and legislative procedures.

Henry Nwawuba, executive secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, announced the plans on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Library Week.

The event, themed “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People,” is focused on legislative research, public access to information and the preservation of parliamentary records.

Nwawuba said the library holds records such as Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports, Acts passed by the National Assembly, gazetted laws and oversight manuals. He said the reforms are also meant to reduce inconsistencies in official documents and the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, represented at the event, urged lawmakers and the public to make better use of legislative records for research and lawmaking.

Sources: Punch, Premium Times