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The Nigeria Bar
Association (NBA) yesterday asked the National Assembly not to
introduce the controversial Right of First Refusal clause into the 2010
Electoral Act. The NBA said the clause would pave way for automatic
nomination tickets for federal lawmakers who wish to contest in the
2011 general elections.

Chairman of the Bar
in Abuja, Abdulrahman Atadoga Ibrahim, on Tuesday warned that any
attempt to smuggle the notion of automatic nomination tickets into the
Electoral Act would be treated as an insult to the nation and the
people. Mr Atadoga issued the warning during the commencement of the
2010/2011 FCT Judiciary legal year.

“The proposed
clause is undemocratic, in bad taste and will not augur well for the
nation if allowed to see the light of the day,” he said. “Such a clause
is another form of election rigging which the country cannot afford at
the moment.”

Jail the riggers

The NBA also called
on the federal government to immediately set up an Election Offences
Tribunal that would bring to book any person or group involved in
election rigging.

The NBA said that
it was not enough for a rigged election to be nullified and insisted
that those involved in the rigging should end up in jail to serve as a
major deterrent to other evil-minded ones.

“Election riggers are being allowed to move freely on the streets
because of absence of punitive measures,” said Mr Atadoga. “The country
cannot afford unnecessary and expensive court actions that may arise
from unfair methods of conducting elections.”