BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PLATEAU STATE OF EMERGENCY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001277 SIPDIS DEPT PASS TO AF/W LONDON AND PARIS PASS TO AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/19/2014 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC NI SUBJECT: BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PLATEAU STATE OF EMERGENCY REF: A. ABUJA 1147 ¶B. ABUJA 1118 ¶C. ABUJA 865 ¶D. ABUJA 825 Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN CAMPBELL FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: Before declaring a State of Emergency (SOE) in Plateau State on May 18, President Obasanjo did not consult widely with state and local leaders as he claimed, but offered Governor Joshua Dariye options for stepping down. Plateau State officials and community leaders are unanimous in predicting that the SOE will last the full six months it was originally scheduled, and most feel it will last longer. This is the first of four Plateau State cables. End Summary. -------------- A Variety of Interlocutors -------------- ¶2. (C) On a three-day visit to Plateau State from June 23-25, Poloff and FSN Polspec met with state and local leaders from different backgrounds: * (C) Reverend Yakubu Pam, Chairman of the Plateau State Branch of CAN. He was the target of President Obasanjo's anger in May when he asked why the President took action after a massacre of Muslims, but not after a massacre of Christians. Obasanjo fumed, "You, sir, are an idiot, a total idiot, and I make no apologies for this." * (C) Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, a retired career politician and former Ambassador to Switzerland. He was one of the architects of the 1995 Constitution that was modified to become the 1999 Constitution, and was a candidate for the PDP national chairmanship in 2000. He is a native Muslim, married to a Christian. A prince from Shendam, he was elected to serve as the Chief of Shendam by the kingmakers but denied the throne because of his Muslim identity. * (C) Members of the Hausa/Fulani community at a mosque in Jos. (1) Alhaji Sanusi Mato, Executive Chairman, Commedor Nigeria Limited, jailed in 1995 along with President Obasanjo for allegedly planning a coup against Abacha. (2) Alhaji Saleh Hassan, ANPP Presidential Aspirant in 2003 and former National Chairman of DPN from 1996 to 1997. His son currently represents Jos in the House of Representatives. (3) Alhaji Inuwa Ali, Second Republic member of the House of representatives, from Jos. (4) Alhaji Sabo Shuaibu, Plateau State Secretary of Council of Ulama. (5) Alhaji Balarabe Dawudu, Deputy Chief Imam of Jos and retired Area Court Judge. (6) Alhaji Mohammed Nazib, Member, Plateau State House of Assembly. (7) Alhaji Ismaila Mohammed, former Chairman, Jos North Local Government. (8) Alhaji Dasuki, ANPP Chairmanship Aspirant for Jos North Local Government. (9) Alhaji Yaya Abubakar, retired civil servant and community leader. * (C) Governor Joshua Dariye, suspended Governor of Plateau State. * (C) Plateau State Sole Administrator Maj. Gen. (ret.) M. Chris Alli (reftel A). * (C) Honorable Garba, Local Councilor representing Yelwa-Shendam. * (C) Speaker Simon Lalong, suspended speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly. -------------- Before the SOE, Few Were Consulted... -------------- ¶3. (C) Lalong said that he had spoken with Obasanjo on May 17, the day before the declaration of the state of emergency (reftel C). Obasanjo offered the Plateau State Assembly a choice: either impeach Governor Dariye or have a SOE declared. Lalong said he pleaded for more time for the assembly to take action, but did not hear back from Obasanjo, and learned of the SOE in Obasanjo's national address on May ¶18. ¶4. (C) Dariye said he had received a phone call from Obasanjo, also offering him a choice: resign, be impeached, or have the SOE declared. Dariye said that his conscience prevented him from resigning, since the vast majority of people of Plateau State support him. Impeachment would legally prevent him from holding public office again. So, he said, he told Obasanjo he'd accept the SOE. -------------- ...But More Were Not -------------- ¶5. (C) The religious leaders claim they were not consulted, despite the religious dimension of the violence that prompted the SOE. While Obasanjo claimed to have consulted widely among the parties interested in the SOE, this group at the center of the conflict was evidently missing from the list. Background: Although the conflict began over land use and indigene-settler disputes, it evolved to Christian-Muslim violence when it spread to Kano (reftel D). End Background. ¶6. (C) Nor was Ambassador Kwande consulted, even though he had acted as one of the PDP's "kingmakers" in bringing Obasanjo back to power in 1999. But Kwande said he was not surprised by the SOE declaration. When the kingmakers drafted Obasanjo, they "knew him to be a soldier", and now they're just "eating what they cooked." In other words, if Obasanjo is behaving like a military man instead of a politician, no one should be surprised. -------------- Can the President Do That? -------------- ¶7. (U) President Obasanjo invoked section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to issue a "Proclamation of a state of emergency" in Plateau State on the basis of both the breakdown in public order and the threat that it could spread across Nigeria. According to section 305(6)(b),a two-thirds majority of each house of the National Assembly must approve the proclamation within two days of the May 18 publication in the Official Gazette. PDP sources at the National Assembly say that when the proclamation was "passed," fewer than two-thirds of the members were present. One says that the Speaker of the House instructed the clerk to change the vote to reflect the two-thirds majority was met. Section 305 does not specify the range of presidential powers during a state of emergency. ¶8. (U) Section 188 of the Constitution defines the procedures for removal of a Governor or Deputy Governor from office for gross misconduct: one-third of the membership of a state Assembly must sign an allegation of wrongdoing, then two-thirds must vote to approve investigating the allegation, then two-thirds must approve the findings of an investigative panel. Section 189 defines the procedures for removal on the basis of incapability to discharge functions of the office, a two-thirds majority supported by a medical panel. ¶9. (U) There is no provision in the 1999 Constitution giving the President authority to remove a Governor or Deputy Governor, or to dissolve a state Assembly, nor is there any provision for any form of suspension. -------------- The SOE: a Necessary Evil? -------------- ¶10. (C) Most interlocutors welcomed the SOE as a necessary evil. Even suspended Plateau State Speaker Simon Lalong, who lost his position with the SOE, supported it, "if at the end, the SOE would bring back peace and stability in the State." As hoped, violence has subsided in the "war zones" of eastern Plateau State. There have been no reports of major attacks since the proclamation. Roads previously controlled by ethnic militias have been reopened and state security agents have taken over roadblocks from the ethnic militias. Although the hardest-hit communities remained deserted, a few residents have taken advantage of the SOE to return home. ¶11. (C) Honorable Garba, a Muslim and councilor representing crisis-ravaged Yelwa-Shendam, posited that the SOE had given a hope of security to the Hausa/Fulani community that were victims of the May massacre in Yelwa. According to him, the presence of soldiers in the area had prevented further attacks from the Tarok militias. He said Yelwa residents preferred the SOE because former Governor Dariye was incompetent, biased, and unsympathetic to their plight. "Governor Dariye did very little to protect the Muslims", he added. ¶12. (C) Reverend Yakubu Pam, an indigene and Chairman of Plateau State Branch of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN),opined that SOE was a ploy to remove the democratically elected government, adding that President Obasanjo simply employed diversionary tactics in saying the SOE would last for 6 months. Pam, who believed the imposition of SOE was a "mistake," was convinced that Obasanjo would extend the SOE beyond 6 months. -------------- How Long Will the SOE Last? -------------- ¶13. (C) No one Emboffs met thought the SOE would be lifted before its original six-month mandate, and almost everyone thought the SOE would be extended for another six months. The 1999 Constitution, section 305(6)(c),allows for a single six-month extension. Ambassador Kwande, a constitution expert, said that Obasanjo's hands were tied after that: he would have to lift the SOE and return Dariye and the state assembly to power. ¶14. (C) Few others shared this view, most suggesting that Obasanjo would extend General Alli's tenure as sole administrator until the 2007 elections, regardless of whether the SOE was lifted. Dariye himself refused to speculate about whether he'd be returned to the Governor's office, although he hinted at a presidential run in the future. ¶15. (C) Some believed the GON would use insecurity and Dariye's incompetence as a ploy to elongate the SOE. Sources revealed that some politicians, anticipating a midterm election, have begun clandestine campaigns to take over Dariye's job. General Alli himself does not appear to be in a hurry to leave office in the next six months. Upon his arrival in Jos on May 18, Alli immediately ordered the removal of a billboard at the entrance of the Government House that said, "Office of the Executive Governor of Plateau State," and replaced it with one that said, "Office of the Sole Administrator of Plateau State". ¶16. (C) Speaker Lalong opined the "shabby treatment" of the elected state representatives is evidence that the Federal Government (FG) would extend the SOE beyond 6 months. He said that immediately upon Alli's arrival in Jos, the administrator "seized all the official vehicles attached to Governor Dariye and ordered him to vacate the official residence." Lalong gave Poloff a letter that Alli sent to all state legislators ordering them to surrender their official cars and vacate their official quarters or be evicted. In addition, the suspended legislators were neither consulted nor paid their salaries (contrary to Nigeria civil laws, which allow suspended public officers to receive part of their wages). -------------- -------------- The Jos Court Hands Off, While Alli Plunges Ahead -------------- -------------- ¶17. (C) Because of the way they'd been treated, said Lalong, the State Assembly decided to challenge the SOE at the Jos High Court (reftel B). On July 15, the Jos High Court determined that because the SOE was declared in Abuja and most witnesses were there, the case should be transferred to the Abuja High Court, as argued by the President's attorney. ¶18. (U) In late June, General Alli sacked other top officials of the State Government and reduced the number of ministries from 20 to 14. National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Audu Ogbeh told a delegation of elders from the State that recently visited him in Abuja that General Alli's recent actions clearly showed that "he has overstepped his briefs." ¶19. (C) COMMENT: While this saga has been removed from the front page news, the various implications of the unprecedented SOE are still playing out. With the political system in shambles, the legal challenges have yet to gain traction. Public opinion, expectedly mixed, seems to be relief that the violence has eased combined with suspicion about Obasanjo's motives. CAMPBELL