An aspirant for the president of the 9th senate Mohammed Ali Ndume representing Borno South senatorial district has warned that the independence of the Ninth National Assembly may be under threat.
The former senate leader, who spoke at the valedictory session to mark the end of legislative business for the eight senate, Thursday, urged incoming 9th senate to work assiduously to protect its independence to avoid turbulent sessions.
“We had loads of disagreements. I respect your resilience and your ability to stand for what you believe in. We started together and we were doing fine. What happened was part of the learning process.
“My concern is the independence of this arm of government. That is not to say we must not work with the other side (presidency).
“I see a dangerous thing coming. The only thing that makes democracy different from military rule is the parliament. We need to ensure the independence of the parliament.
“If we take away the parliament, what we have is not democracy. I am one of those that were controversial in the last four years. Within the process, we may have offended one another. I take nothing personal.
“This institution is very important. Let us protect the sanctity of the parliament. This is the Nigerian Senate. There is no APC or PDP senate. This is the senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We will continue to support the other side but we must work at all times to protect the sanctity of the institution of the parliament. We must continue to enhance the sanctity of the Senate at all times”, he said.
Further, he said the difference between democracy and military government lies in the independence of parliament and therefore insisted that all hands must be on deck irrespective of political affiliations to protect and preserve the integrity of the legislature.
He appealed to the senators-elect to do everything possible to jealously and zealously guard against any external interference in the business of the legislature.
Ndume, one of the two aspirants for the position of senate president, may have made the statement in apparent reference to the alleged imposition of Senator Ahmed Lawan by the national leadership of the APC for the post of the president of the 9th senate.