The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has launched a Business Bill Intelligence Portal to help companies follow proposed laws before the National Assembly and assess changes that could affect their operations.
The Ernest Shonekan Centre for Legislative Reforms and Economic Development, an NESG initiative, unveiled the platform at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. The gathering was held at the Transcorp Hilton under the theme “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity”.
The portal brings bill searches, legislative histories and status information together in one resource. Businesses can identify proposals relevant to their sectors, rather than waiting until a measure has become law before considering its implications.
According to the centre, the platform allows users to browse legislation and apply filters. A dashboard groups bills by their stage of consideration, while individual entries show the latest recorded action and previous steps in their legislative history.
ESC Chairman Kyari Bukar said the initiative sought to strengthen informed participation in lawmaking and connect legislative reform with economic development priorities. He said the centre wanted clearer, practical laws that encouraged investment and economic opportunities while protecting the public interest.
The potential users extend beyond company owners and investors. Executive Director Uchenna Ogbonna identified citizens, civil society organisations, journalists, policy analysts, academics, government agencies, legislators and National Assembly staff among those the service was designed to support.
Ogbonna said these groups needed legislative information for different purposes. Companies follow proposals affecting their industries, while citizens want to understand changes that could affect their lives. Researchers and lawmakers need information to support their work.
The portal’s public website describes access as free across its account types, without payment details. Its search tools cover bill titles, numbers, sponsors and committees, with filters for chambers, legislative stages and business sectors.
It also makes a distinction between its own information service and Parliament’s records. The website says its material is compiled from Order Papers, Votes and Proceedings and committee reports, and that it is neither the official legislative record nor endorsed by the National Assembly.
The website cautions that its figures cover bills recorded in the portal and may not include every proposal before lawmakers. It lists AI-assisted summaries, legislative outlook analysis and a conversational assistant among planned enhancements, rather than presenting them as features already available.
The launch extends a longer programme of engagement between businesses and legislatures. NESG established the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable in 2016 and subsequently supported a corresponding initiative for state assemblies.
The Ernest Shonekan Centre, established in 2023, focuses on research, advocacy and engagement on legislative reform and economic development. The new portal adds an information service to that work, allowing users to follow proposals through consideration and distinguish pending measures from those that have completed the process.
The site separates final outcomes, including assent withheld, withdrawal and lapse, from the stages of parliamentary consideration. That distinction allows a user to follow a proposal’s history without treating its appearance in the directory as evidence that it has become an enforceable law.
The Business Bill Intelligence Portal is available at billtracker.shonekancentre.org.
