Why N/Assembly appears corrupt---Senate

The National Assembly appears corrupt to Nigerians because it is the only arm of government that is obliged to operate in the open, the Senate has said.Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP, Cross River) today in an interview with Daily Trust said if the executive and the judiciary were to be subjected to the same scrutiny the legislature was subjected to, the National Assembly would not have been considered so bad.Ndoma-Egba said it was unfair of any Nigerian to paint all members of the National Assembly an image of corruption as a result of the bribery allegation against aformer chairman of the House of Representatives' ad-Hoc committee that investigated the management of the fuel subsidy regime, Farouk Lawan.He said, 'Nigerians are holding the National Assembly and its members to different standards from every other Nigerian. Every other Nigerian, if accused of wrongdoing, is presumed innocent. It is only when you are a member of the National Assembly that the moment you are accused, you are presumed guilty. Why are we being held to a different standard from every other Nigerian''If the two other arms of government were subjected to the kind of scrutiny that we are subjected to, I am not sure the National Assembly would look as bad as itappears. We look bad because we are the only arm of government that is obliged to operate in the open. At plenary and committee levels, we have cameras covering us.We only have two situations under which we can go into closed door sessions to discuss issues bordering on security and our house keeping. Can the other two armsstand the same scrutiny that we are subjected to' 'We don't condone corruption, and that is why we have quickly passed every bill that is to strengthen the fight against corruption. We promptly passed the EFCC and ICPC Acts (Amendment) Bills as well as the Money Laundering Bill to strengthen the fight against corruption. We also passed the FOI Bill to create an open society that will support accountability'.
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