Senator representing Enugu West Senatorial District, Osita Ngwu (left); Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Julius Ihonvbere; Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamaru Ogunlana; Executive Secretary, National Assembly Library, Henry Nwawuba and others during the 2026 National Assembly Library Week in Abuja, yesterday.
National Assembly Library Trust Fund is to translate Nigerian laws into Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other local languages, as part of a fresh drive to make legislation more accessible to citizens and preserve the country’s democratic memory.
The Executive Secretary of the Trust Fund, Henry Nwawuba, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Library Week, with the theme, “Parliamentary Memory: Connecting Records, Legislation and the People.”
Nwawuba said the three-day event was designed as a yearly platform for promoting legislative research, access to information, and the effective use of the resources of the National Assembly Library.
Nwawuba disclosed that the institution was investing in electronic repositories and its E-Library, while developing a National Assembly Library mobile application to make parliamentary information readily available to lawmakers, aides, staff, researchers and citizens.
Representing the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Senator Osita Ngwu urged lawmakers to make greater use of the library, particularly in an era of misinformation, disinformation and artificial intelligence.
Ngwu said the library should not be regarded merely as a room containing books, but as an institution connecting evidence, knowledge, and legislative decision-making.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, in a goodwill message, said legislative records were vital to understanding Nigeria’s legislative history and strengthening democratic governance.
Abbas, who was represented by the House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, 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 experience, and makes that knowledge available to future generations.
The Clerk of the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, warned against the circulation of incomplete, outdated, altered or unauthorised bills, Acts and other parliamentary documents.
Ogunlana said the digital age had made it easier for documents to be scanned, manipulated and widely circulated, making proper preservation, authentication and accessibility of parliamentary records increasingly important.
Ogunlana’s warning came against the background of concerns over the circulation of purported parliamentary documents that may not reflect the authentic position of the National Assembly.
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.
The Secretary-General of the Conference of Speakers of African Legislatures, Debo Oyewale, said African legislatures had much to learn from one another in building institutions capable of preserving legislative memory and strengthening democratic governance.
Meanwhile, the Senate has counselled journalists and the public against treating parliamentary motions, committee recommendations and budget proposals as final decisions of the National Assembly.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, said that premature reporting of parliamentary proceedings could distort the public record and create the wrong impression about decisions yet to be taken.
Adaramodu, who represented Senate President Godswill Akpabio at a capacity-building workshop for journalists in Abuja, said journalists must understand the different stages through which parliamentary decisions are made before presenting them as established facts.
He stressed that a motion sponsored by an individual senator should not automatically be reported as the position of the Senate.
Similarly, he said recommendations made by committees could not be regarded as final decisions until they had been considered and adopted by the chamber.
Adaramodu also warned against presenting the Executive’s budget proposal as the national budget.
According to him, the document submitted by the Executive is only a proposal, while committee budget defence sessions are part of an ongoing legislative process.
The senator urged journalists covering the legislature to obtain the relevant documents and interrogate them before publishing reports.
On budget oversight, the Senate spokesman said journalists should go beyond reporting figures and investigate what happens to appropriated funds after approval.
He urged the media to verify projects on the ground and trace the processes of appropriation, release and implementation before drawing conclusions about alleged misuse of public funds.