Forty-eight hours after announcing his intention to sponsor a bill to transform the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) into a full-fledged university serving Nigeria and the West African sub-region, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, has taken the first legislative step towards actualising the proposal.
The bill, titled West African University of Legislative Studies (Establishment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 1087), scaled first reading during plenary at the Senate on Wednesday.
Senator Barau, who is also the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, had announced his intention to sponsor the legislation on Monday while representing the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON, at the 10th Convocation Ceremony of the NILDS–University of Benin (UNIBEN) Postgraduate Programmes in Abuja.
At the ceremony, the Deputy President of the Senate disclosed that he had commenced discussions with the Director-General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, on modalities for the proposed conversion of the institute into a full-fledged university.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, Senator Barau proposed that the institution, upon conversion, be named the West African University of Legislative Studies (WAULS).
The Deputy President of the Senate, who also chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the proposed university would leverage NILDS’ existing infrastructure and institutional capacity to strengthen legislative practice, democratic governance, and regional integration.
“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.
“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. Going by the structure of this great institute, it can serve not only Nigeria but the entire West African sub-region.
“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,” he said.
Senator Barau noted that the location of the ECOWAS Parliament, ECOWAS Commission, and ECOWAS Court of Justice in Nigeria makes the country strategically positioned to host a regional institution dedicated to legislative capacity building and democratic development.
He said the proposed university would provide a platform for legislators and other stakeholders across West Africa to acquire specialised knowledge and skills in legislative practice, democratic governance, and institutional development.
The Deputy President of the Senate expressed optimism that the National Assembly would pass the proposed legislation and that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would assent to it.
Signed:
Ismail Mudashir
Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate
(Media and Publicity)
October 28, 2026