…….Unveils Bills Tracker, Mobile App to Expand Public Access
The National Assembly is set to overhaul access to parliamentary information through the digitisation of legislative records, translation of Nigerian laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other local languages, and the deployment of new digital platforms for lawmakers and the public.
The initiative is part of efforts to preserve Nigeria’s democratic memory, strengthen legislative research and make authoritative parliamentary information easier for citizens to access and understand.
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 three-day programme was designed to promote legislative research, access to information and effective utilisation of the resources of the National Assembly Library.
He described the library as more than a collection of books, saying it represents the knowledge infrastructure of the legislature and serves as a repository of parliamentary records, legislative information, research materials and the institutional memory of Nigeria’s democratic journey.
According to him, the library is working to ensure that lawmakers, legislative aides, researchers and other stakeholders can access authoritative parliamentary records, including Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings, committee reports, Acts passed by the National Assembly, gazetted laws and oversight manuals.
He said the Trust Fund was investing in electronic repositories and upgrading the National Assembly E-Library, while developing a National Assembly Library mobile application to make legislative information more accessible.
Nwawuba also announced plans for a Bills Tracker, which would allow users to follow bills and monitor their progress through the legislative process.
Beyond digitisation, he said the library was developing infographics, audiovisual materials and video explainers to simplify Bills, Acts and legislative procedures for Nigerians.
He added that the planned translation of laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other local languages would broaden access to legislative information and enable more citizens to understand laws that affect their daily lives.
Nwawuba said the library would also organise public policy dialogues to encourage citizens’ participation in public hearings and create opportunities for interaction among legislators, citizens, researchers and other stakeholders.
He explained that the initiatives were also aimed at addressing inconsistencies in official parliamentary documents and the circulation of fake or unauthorised copies of National Assembly records.
Representing the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, 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.
In a goodwill message, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, represented by the House Leader, Prof. 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 be measured not only by the laws it enacts, but also by how effectively it documents its activities, preserves institutional knowledge and makes such information available to future generations.
He said technology and artificial intelligence could improve legislative research, records preservation and access to information, but cautioned that their adoption must be guided by accuracy, security, professional judgment and protection of the integrity of parliamentary records.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the National Assembly could not be truly independent if it lacked the capacity to generate, preserve, retrieve and authenticate its institutional knowledge and records.
Ogunlana said the library had an important role as a bridge between parliamentary records, legislation and the people, stressing that Parliament could not be fully transparent if its records could not be found, understood and trusted.
He identified the Order Paper, Votes and Proceedings and Hansard as key components of Nigeria’s democratic memory, explaining that the Order Paper provides the agenda for legislative business, Votes and Proceedings record decisions and proceedings, while the Hansard provides a comprehensive record of debates and lawmakers’ contributions.
The Clerk warned against the circulation of incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised Bills, Acts and other parliamentary documents, noting that digital technology had made it possible for documents to be manipulated and circulated to thousands of people within minutes.
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, as well as the legal process through which it emerged.
Ogunlana also called for stronger collaboration among 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 have easy access to current and authoritative versions of federal laws.
He noted that the continued widespread use of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, LFN 2004, highlighted the challenges of maintaining a current and authoritative consolidated body of federal legislation.
According to him, the LFN 2004 reflected the laws covered by that revision exercise and was not automatically updated whenever a new Act was enacted.
Ogunlana said the National Assembly must also strengthen cybersecurity, digital preservation, secure authentication, access controls, backup systems and staff training as parliamentary records become increasingly digitised.
He warned that while digitisation would make parliamentary information easier to access, search and disseminate, it could also expose records to cyberattacks, manipulation and impersonation of official sources.
He therefore stressed the need for digital platforms to be both accessible and secure, with electronic records remaining available, authentic and traceable.
The Clerk said the National Assembly Library should evolve beyond being a repository where documents are kept to becoming 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, while urging 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, improving access to information and strengthening democratic governance.
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