New 530-page book dissects Nigerian legislature from pre-colonial era

By Olugbenga Salami

A major new scholarly work offering a comprehensive examination of the Nigerian legislature will be launched at the National Assembly Library Conference Hall, Abuja, on Monday, July 13, 2026 at 12 noon

The book, titled “The Nigerian Legislature: Understanding Its Impact on Democratic Governance and National Development”, is a 530-page study that traces the evolution of the legislature from pre-colonial deliberative traditions through colonial rule and military rule to its current role in the presidential system of the Fourth Republic.

Authored by Ezrel Tabiowo, Media Adviser to the President of the Ninth Senate, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the book provides a forensic analysis of the legislature’s performance in its core constitutional functions: lawmaking, appropriation, oversight, and representation.

It also offers detailed recommendations for institutional reform and strengthening.

Tabiowo brings decades of experience to the work. A former Chairman of the Senate Press Corps and current Secretary General of the West African Parliamentary Press Corps, he served as Chief Press Secretary to the President of the Ninth Senate from 2019 to 2023.

His years in the National Assembly press gallery and in the office of Senator Lawan, now Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, form the experiential foundation of the book.

The book features forewords by two legal luminaries: Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, former Leader of the Seventh Senate and Pro-Chancellor of Federal University Oye-Ekiti; and His Excellency Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The book review will be delivered by *His Excellency, Senator Ita Solomon Enang*, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and former Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters.

His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, PhD, GCON*, President of the Ninth Senate, will serve as Chief Host.

Other Special Guests of Honour include Professor Abubakar Suleiman, Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS, who will also present the book.