MEETING WITH NIGERIA'S NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001405

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR INL AND AF
.
NSC FOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JENDAYI FRAZER
.
JUSTICE FOR OIA, OPDAT AND ICITAP


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2017
TAGS: PREL SNAR CJAN KCRM NI
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH NIGERIA'S NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL


REF: ABUJA 729


Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter for reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d).


This is an action cable; action request for INL in para 14.


1.(C) Summary: Nigeria's Attorney General, Godwin Kanu
Agabi, appears comfortable in his second go-round as the
country's top law enforcement official. During an April --
initial meeting with Ambassador Jeter, Agabi responded
positively on all facets on our bilateral law enforcement
relationship and pledged to build on the progress made by his
predecessor in strengthening U.S.-Nigerian law enforcement
cooperation. End Summary.


2.(C) Ambassador Jeter, accompanied by POLCOUNS and RNLEO,
made an introductory call on Attorney General Godwin Kanu
Agabi at the Ministry of Justice. Agabi was renamed AG by
President Obasanjo on March 6, succeeding the late Chief Bola
Ige, who was assassinated last December. Agabi was AG from
June 1999 to June 2000 when he was transferred to the
Ministry of Solid Minerals.


3.(C) Agabi expressed deep appreciation for U.S. support for
Nigeria's democratic transition, noting that "you stood with
us" during the dark days of military rule. He also thanked
the U.S. for its assistance on numerous fronts, from judicial
reform to counter-narcotics, though he called for additional
assistance to help overcome the atrophy of Nigeria's
democratic institutions, caused by years of military misrule
and neglect. The Ambassador noted the looming challenge of
conducting free, fair and peaceful elections and the Attorney
General concurred that the Justice Ministry and security
services have their work cut out for them. "There's little
respect for law" in Nigeria's charged political environment,
he noted.


4.(C) The Ambassador reviewed the diverse range of USG
assistance efforts in Nigeria, spanning military assistance
and training, education, health, judicial reform, police
modernization, counter-narcotics, anti-corruption, and
fighting trafficking in persons. He highlighted the fact
that this is a dramatic increase in assistance to Nigeria and
noted that, on the law enforcement front, only three years
ago we had no significant cooperation with the GON.


5.(C) The AG acknowledged the US commitment to Nigeria and
asked the USG and the broader international community to be
patient as the current regime struggles to cope with myriad
law enforcement and judicial problems. "Nigeria's experience
in emerging from the military years is like a country coming
out of a war," Agabi explained. He admitted that corruption
is a major obstacle to reform, and he also decried the poor
performance of the National Assembly in passing crucial law
enforcement legislation. The AG quipped that "moving
legislation through the Assembly was like rolling a ball of
meat through a pack of wolves."


Bilateral Agreement and LE Committee
--------------


6.(C) Recounting the successful first meeting of the
U.S.-Nigeria Law Enforcement Committee meeting in Washington
DC last November, the Ambassador highlighted the joint
declaration signed at the conclusion of those bilateral
discussions by INL A/S Beers and the late Attorney General
Chief Bola Ige. Presenting the new AG with a copy of the
declaration (which Agabi had been given earlier),the
Ambassador noted that several of the five GON action items to
be accomplished before the next meeting of the LE Committee
have not been addressed. Agabi expressed his desire to hold
the next LE Committee meeting as originally scheduled, in May
2002 in Abuja. In response, the Ambassador suggested a
postponement to allow Agabi and his staff time to achieve
greater progress on the action items of the last meeting's
declaration. The AG reiterated his desire for the May
schedule, noting that "I work best under pressure."


7.(C) The USG will soon be prepared to sign a bilateral
Letter of Agreement (LOA) governing $3.5 million in FY01 law
enforcement assistance, the Ambassador announced. This
assistance would cover several key areas such as Police
Reform, aid to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA) and aid to the police to fight trafficking in
persons. A copy of the draft LOA was left with the Minister
for review, with the caveat that this was still a draft
subject to change. (Note: two weeks later, Post formally
transmitted an INL-cleared version of the LOA to the AG for
his consideration. End Note)


8.(C) The Ambassador began reviewing developments and
outstanding requests in the various areas of bilateral law
enforcement. He recounted the provision of almost $500,000
in counter-narcotics assistance to the NDLEA in 2001 and
expressed the hope that the Federal government would, in the
coming budget cycle, give this sole drug control agency the
resources necessary for effective drug enforcement. Noting
that the NDLEA falls under his domain as the Justice
Minister, Agabi responded confidently that the NDLEA's budget
would be improved.
419 Fraud Workshop
--------------


9.(C) Drawing attention to the continued high-visibility
threat of advance-fee, or "419" fraud committed by Nigerian
criminals against U.S. citizens, the Ambassador recalled Bola
Ige's request that the U.S. Secret Service office in Lagos
sponsor an in-country workshop on 419 fraud to exchange
information and bring relevant Nigerian law enforcement
personnel up-to-date on changing techniques of perpetrating
this form of criminal activity. The Ambassador stated that
the USSS stands ready to organize this workshop at the AG's
direction. Agabi responded enthusiastically and suggested
this be scheduled within the next two months.
Financial Crimes and Money Laundering
--------------


10.(C) The Ambassador reviewed the recent history of the
FATF's declaration of Nigeria as a "Non-Cooperation Country
or Territory (NCCT)" and the GON's delayed response to FATF
concerns over Nigeria's inadequate money laundering controls.
Agabi responded by noting that his office had drafted the
Financial Crimes Commission Act, which was presented to the
National Assembly in January and awaits enactment. Similarly,
the MOJ is drafting revisions to Nigeria's Money Laundering
law in line with the FATF's recommendations. The AG
expressed optimism that the new Financial Crimes Commission
would improve enforcement efforts against money laundering
and financial crimes. He called, however, for U.S.
assistance to the new Commission, noting that the Federal
government would not likely provide it with adequate
resources.


Extradition Requests and Workshop
--------------


11.(SBU) On the subject of extradition requests, Agabi
immediately conceded that the Nigerian judiciary is infected
with corruption and this is the main reason USG requests for
extradition have failed in the past. Special, efficient
extradition courts are need, he declared. In response to the
Ambassador's request for an efficient and lawful mechanism to
handle our extradition requests, Agabi stated that he would
soon ask President Obasanjo for approval to establish special
courts for extradition requests and financial crime cases.
When briefed by the Ambassador on the long-standing proposal
to have an extradition seminar or exchange in Abuja with MOJ
prosecutors and judges, the AG stated that he welcomes such
an exchange that would help his staff of prosecutors. On a
specific inquiry from RNLEO concerning a renewed USG
extradition request for Gabriel Umoh, the AG responded that
earlier that week he had signed the necessary papers to begin
the court case against Umoh.


Immigration Crimes and INS Visits
--------------


12.(C) During discussions with USINS officials on November 9
in Washington, Bola Ige had agreed to host the visit of INS
officials to discuss modalities of Joint Prisoner
Repatriation Flights (JPATS),the Ambassador recalled.
Emphasizing the USG's desire to work with the GON to improve
coordination on the transfer of prisoners, he asked the
Attorney General if he was willing to host the visit of INS
officials, which had been postponed by the tragic murder of
Bola Ige. Agabi agreed to a rescheduled visit.


Comment
--------------


13.(C) Agabi has taken over the reigns of the Justice
Ministry and apparently wants to continue the cooperative
legacy of the late Bola Ige. He appears accessible, engaging
and in good command of the various issues in his brief. He
has responded to Embassy inquiries in person and made the
unusual offer to the Ambassador that he would come to the
Embassy for their next meeting.


14.(SBU) Action Request for INL: Please provide a response
to the Attorney General's request that the Bilateral LE
Committee meeting be held in May in Abuja. If INL proposes a
postponement until July or August -- with which we would
concur fully -- we will encourage the AG to produce concrete
progress on the action items of the November 9 Joint
Declaration.
JETER