The Senate has commenced legislative action to transform the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) into a regional university serving Nigeria and other countries in West Africa.
Gatekeepers News reports that the proposed legislation, sponsored by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, passed first reading during plenary on Wednesday.
Titled the West African University of Legislative Studies (Establishment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 1087), the bill seeks to establish a full-fledged university focused on legislative practice, democratic governance and regional integration.
Barau had announced plans to sponsor the bill on Monday while representing Senate President Godswill Akpabio at the 10th convocation ceremony of the NILDS-University of Benin (UNIBEN) postgraduate programmes in Abuja.
At the event, the deputy senate president disclosed that he had begun discussions with NILDS Director-General Abubakar Sulaiman on the modalities for transforming the institute into a university.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Barau’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, said the proposed institution would be known as the West African University of Legislative Studies (WAULS).
Barau, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the proposed university would build on NILDS’ existing infrastructure and institutional capacity to promote legislative excellence, democratic governance and cooperation among West African countries.
“Now, let me quickly add that I have, on several occasions, discussed with the Director-General that, going by the quality of infrastructure this great institute has acquired over the years, there is a need for it to be transformed into a full-fledged university,” he said.
The deputy senate president said the institution’s proposed regional mandate aligned with Nigeria’s role in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
“I even told him that, as the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Nigeria has always played a fatherly role within the ECOWAS community,” he said.
Barau argued that NILDS had the facilities and institutional structure to serve countries across the sub-region, rather than Nigeria alone.
“Going by the structure of this great institute, it can serve not only Nigeria but the entire West African sub-region,” he said.
He added that the university would provide opportunities for legislators from across ECOWAS member states to receive specialised training in legislative studies and democratic governance.
“The university should be named the West African Institute of Legislative Studies so that we can bring in legislators not only from Nigeria but also from all ECOWAS member states to study here. This would be a way of extending our role in uniting the people of West Africa,” Barau said.
The deputy senate president further noted that Nigeria was strategically positioned to host a regional institution dedicated to legislative capacity building, pointing to the presence of the ECOWAS Parliament, ECOWAS Commission and ECOWAS Court of Justice in the country.
According to him, the proposed university would provide a platform for legislators and other stakeholders from across West Africa to develop specialised knowledge and skills in lawmaking, democratic governance and institutional development.
Barau expressed optimism that the National Assembly would pass the bill and that President Bola Tinubu would assent to it.
