The Senate must have caught wind of the immediate backlash that followed the legislative immunity granted to its members at today’s constitution review. When the Senate Twitter handle shared the information below earlier, Nigerians raised dust and even we were not left out.

But the Senate has provided clarification stating that “acts in course of duty” refers to “words spoken or written at plenary sessions and proceedings”.

It is not the first time legislative immunity has been miscontrued by the public the world over. The immunity does not absolve lawmakers from trial in a case of criminal conduct. What it does is protect them from answering to the court of law about things they may have said or done while carrying out their duties. With this immunity in place, legislators do not have to worry about the executive or judiciary or even a constituent intervening unduly in the discharge of their duties.

That said, this legislative immunity aligns with international practices as the senate has said, but can we trust these ones not to abuse this right?