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)

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Summary
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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.

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In the Beginning
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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).

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Impeachment as a Weapon
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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."

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Public Reaction: It's No Big Deal
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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.

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Watering Down the Threat
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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.

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Presidency: Warding off Impeachment Threats
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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.

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Has This President Committed Impeachable Offenses?
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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.

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Comment
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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