NIGERIAN LEGISLATORS THREATEN PRESIDENT OBASANJO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001119 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM NI SUBJECT: NIGERIAN LEGISLATORS THREATEN PRESIDENT OBASANJO WITH IMPEACHMENT...IS IT MORE THAN A BLUFF THIS TIME? REF: A. ABUJA 451 ¶B. 04 ABUJA 1381 ¶C. ABUJA 514 ¶D. ABUJA 115 ¶E. ABUJA 1086 Classified By: Political Counselor Russell J. Hanks for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) On May 3, members of Nigeria's lower house initiated steps to impeach President Olusegun Obasanjo, listing 19 impeachable offenses against the president, generally related to the Obasanjo's altering or ignoring decisions of the National Assembly. The impeachment's prime movers say about 200 legislators have signed up, but House leadership says fewer actually did. Many observers dismiss the move as blackmail to gain more money from the President. With the House on recess for six weeks, the momentum of the move is in doubt, but critics point to the sudden release of a "welfare package" totaling 61 billion naira (about USD 465 million) to the legislators by the President as a "settlement," likely ending the impeachment threat. -------------- In the Beginning -------------- ¶2. (U) On May 3, members of Nigeria's lower house initiated steps to impeach President Olusegun Obasanjo. Bashir Idris Nadabo, (ANPP, Katsina State),served notice of impeachment to his colleagues, listing 16 offenses that the President has allegedly committed (two days later, the number of offenses increased to 19, and may now be up to 21). Generally, the offenses relate to Obasanjo's "unilateral" actions, taken without appropriate consultations with the National Assembly. A few examples of the offenses of which Obasanjo is accused: --"Unilateral doctoring" of the 2005 national budget (from N1.8 trillion to N1.7 trillion) after it had been passed by the National Assembly. --Unilaterally granting loans of USD 40 million to Ghana and USD 5 million to Sao Tome and Principe. --Refusal to appoint a federal minister for petroleum and unofficially using his son, Gbenga as de facto petroleum minister. --Unilaterally granting asylum to embattled Liberian president, Charles Taylor. --Allowing the demolition of houses in the Abuja satellite town of Kubwa in disregard to a resolution by the House asking the demolition to stop (Ref A). --Fuelling the political crises in several states, including Anambra and Rivers. --Involvement in a bribery scandal related to the sale of the aluminum smelter to a Russian company after an American company had been identified as the winning bidder (Ref B). -------------- Impeachment as a Weapon -------------- ¶3. (U) Both the House and the Senate have been unhappy with Obasanjo for some time. The Senate was the first to threaten Obasanjo with impeachment over the 2005 budget modifications, but there have been several previous attempts to impeach Obasanjo in the last six years. During Obasanjo's first term, the House leadership perfected the impeachment threat, waving it whenever Obasanjo stepped on sensitive toes at the National Assembly. ¶4. (C) Many believe that the current impeachment threat arose after President Obasanjo's March 22 nationwide broadcast in which he pointedly said the National Assembly was "wallowing in corruption" (Ref C). Many legislators have publicly expressed their unhappiness with Obasanjo's broad brush of accusation. Undoubtedly, there is also the concern among legislators that following the fall of Senate President Wabara (Ref D),it is now very difficult for legislators to share kickbacks with ministers and agency heads in the line of "duty." -------------- Public Reaction: It's No Big Deal -------------- ¶5. (U) Nasarawa State governor Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu (PDP), currently in Obasanjo's good graces, described the threat of the legislators as "democratic noise." Presidential aide Femi Fani-Kayode, in his characteristic style, described the threat as "infantile nonsense which is bound to fail." Peter Odili (PDP),governor of oil rich Rivers State, called a meeting of legislators from his state and pleaded with them not to be part of the attempt "to disgrace our party." ¶6. (C) An editorial cartoon in one daily newspaper depicted Obasanjo asking legislators, "if you are hungry, why not simply say so," echoing what many see as the Assembly's arm-twisting to extort money from the executive branch and highlighting the propensity of Obasanjo to answer problems with cash incentives. ¶7. (SBU) However weighty the President's offenses may be, it is doubtful if the ruling PDP members in the National Assembly would allow the opposition ANPP to remove a PDP president. Rep. Nadabo is from the same state as opposition presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari, who is challenging Obasanjo's 2003 election in court (Ref E): allowing Obasanjo's impeachment could be viewed by the PDP as a back door victory for the ANPP. -------------- Watering Down the Threat -------------- ¶8. (U) On May 18 the House set up a committee to look at the offenses as levied by Mr. Nadabo. Representative Alaba Ojomo, chairman of the House Committee on Information said, "the impeachment threat has been a single effort of an individual." He also created doubts around the exercise when he alleged, "as of today, he (Nadabo) was said to have collected 240 signatures but we can verify only 199." Ojomo announced that the impeachment process would have to be concluded before the House went on vacation May 27. In the final speech on that date, House Speaker Aminu Bello Masari dissolved all 72 standing committees of the House, but announced that the ad hoc committee on impeachment would stand, its work unfinished. -------------- Presidency: Warding off Impeachment Threats -------------- ¶9. (SBU) In an apparent move to assuage his attackers before they went on vacation, President Obasanjo visited the National Assembly on the morning of May 27 and pleaded for peace and understanding from the legislators. The next day, newspapers reported that President Obasanjo had released a check for N61 billion ($465 million) to the National Assembly as "welfare packages." An angry Senator Tawar Wada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information described the report as "vexatious and unfounded," while other Senators quietly confirmed the payments. -------------- -------------- Has This President Committed Impeachable Offenses? -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) Political observers and opinion writers argue that since President Obasanjo became president in May 1999 he has carried on like a military leader, showing little or no respect for democratic processes, including the resolutions and acts of the National Assembly. Founding member of the ruling PDP and former Vice President, Chief Alex Ekwueme, recently told a civic workshop that President Obsanjo obeys the laws "more often in the breach." Chief Sunday Awoniyi, a former permanent secretary and former Obasanjo ally, says Obasanjo is suffering from "spiritual corruption." ¶11. (C) The President has a history of disobeying court orders. Within the last two years, the President has ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nigeria ordering the release of seized local council funds for Lagos State. Obasanjo also refused to obey a high court order to restore the police security of Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige. Also, the President has been in the eye of a public storm recently for using his official position to launch a family library project to which government agencies "donated" huge sums of money. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) The furor over the National Intelligence Council report (Ref E) has diverted attention from the impeachment process and from the Presidential library scandal. While it is unclear how the National Assembly will treat the impeachment issue on their return from holidays, some members continue to compile breaches and agitate for more public hearings on the charges. Whether the million dollars per representative offered by Obasanjo will have any affect on the process remains to be seen. CAMPBELL