When the Salt Loses Its Taste: Legislative Accountability and Democratic Backsliding in Nigeria

Abstract

e interrogate in this article, the Nigerian legislature as a site of democratic promise and normative failure. We draw on democratic theory, African Political Thought, normative constitutionalism and supplemented it by a conceptual exegesis of the biblical metaphor “when the salt loses its taste” to argue that the persistent crisis of accountability in Nigeria’s legislative institutions is not reducible to individual corruption or procedural weakness. We content rather that it reflects a deeper erosion of institutional ethos, ethical commitment, and civic responsibility which was shaped by postcolonial political economy, executive dominance, and prebendal incentives. We employed the method of qualitative, philosophical–normative analyses to unravel that empirical manifestation such as budget padding, transactional oversight, confirmation politics, and sub national legislative subservience as expressions of a broader moral collapse. We equally note that a brief comparative engagement with Ghana and South Africa demonstrates that legislative accountability in Africa is contingent not merely on constitutional design but on ethical norms, institutional culture, and civic vigilance. We conclude this article by advancing a normative agenda for reconstituting legislative authority through ethical reorientation, institutional strengthening, and democratic renewal.