Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) has cautioned against the deployment of ex-judicial measures in effecting leadership change in the National Assembly.
Recall that tension was high last week over calls for the impeachment of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who recently dumped the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).
The President of the association, Alhaji Khaleel Bolaji, who addressed a press conference in Abuja yesterday also called on the security agencies to resist any attempt to use politician as stooges.
The association also condemned the recent invasion on the National Assembly by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) and commended the acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for the sack of the DSS boss, Lawal Daura.
He said: “Without doubt, the recent wind of defection witnessed by the two major political parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , where prime politicians have moved to camps, is generating tension in the country.
“While we would have ignored these incidents as normal politicking, the invasion of the National Assembly by the operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), portend great threat to the survival of Nigeria and this budding democracy.
“The response by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to the latest incident is highly commendable as a bold step towards restoring the dignity of the democracy and the rule of law.
“The prompt presidential action also served to reverse the abuse by security operatives in the discharge of their duties.
For the sake of stating the obvious, AANI feels strongly that all security agencies must operate within their mandate to defend the Nigerian nation and its people.
Never must they be induced or influenced to be used as stooges in the hands of politicians and political actors.
“We are most concerned that ex-judicial measures are not allowed through the use of brute of force, illegality or shortcircuiting the legislative rule and process, in achieving a change in the administrative order at the National Assembly without interference with the independence and integrity of the parliament”