There is an irony that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore about Nigeria’s National Assembly. The institution is often at its most vocal when it is demanding accountability from somebody else.
A minister is summoned, and lawmakers demand answers. A government agency is accused of financial impropriety, and a committee is constituted.
A public official makes a controversial statement, and senators call for an explanation. Sometimes, even allegations that have barely moved beyond the pages of newspapers or social media are enough to trigger legislative outrage.
But when the controversy comes home to the National Assembly and the person at the centre of it is one of its own, the response can be strikingly different. There is often silence.
That silence has again become conspicuous following two separate controversies involving Senators Sharafadeen Alli and Shehu Buba Umar.
