ON THE EVE OF THE DECISION ON THE 2003 ELECTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001184

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM KCOR KCRM NI ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: ON THE EVE OF THE DECISION ON THE 2003 ELECTION
CHALLENGE, NIGERIA'S SUPREME COURT IS ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION

REF: ABUJA 460

Classified By: Acting POL/ECON Counselor Lawrence A. Walker for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Intrigue, politics, and mudslinging have taken
center stage at Nigerian Supreme Court. On June 21, a few
days before delivering a judgment on the conduct of 2003
Nigerian presidential elections, Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) Muhammadu Uwais was accused of receiving bribes from a
party to a case before the Supreme Court. Never before has a
lawyer stood before the Supreme Court justices to allege
corrupt practices against them. Justice Uwais, due to retire
next year, scoffed at the allegations and challenged his
accusers to produce their evidence. Later, he said that
"certain unnamed forces" within and outside the Supreme Court
wanted to force him into early retirement. He expressed his
readiness "to die for Nigeria" while doing his job.

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DRAMA AT THE SUPREME COURT
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2. (U) On June 21, a lawyer addressing a panel of five
Supreme Court justices, headed by CJN Uwais, accused the
judges of receiving 13 new Honda cars from the opposing party
(a Honda dealer) in the dispute before the Court. Never
before has a lawyer stood before the Supreme Court justices
to allege corrupt practices against them. The official
method for handling complaints against judges is to file a
petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC). CJN Uwais
admitted his surprise at this attack method in a widely
circulated press interview: "I have been in this court since
1979 and to the best of my knowledge, there was no moment
when litigants came to the face of the court to say that the
judge or judges are corrupt and they would not like their
case be heard."


3. (SBU) Ephraim Duru, the attorney who made the
accusations, is lead counsel for Globe Motors Holdings
Limited, who is suing Honda Place Limited. (Note: Honda
Place is owned by the Vaswani brothers, Indian nationals
alleged to have business links with Vice President Atiku
Abubakar. They were deported in 2003 by President Obasanjo
following irreconcilable differences with tycoon Aliko
Dangote, a major contributor to Obasanjo's campaign funds
during elections, but the brothers maintain their business
interests in Nigeria. End Note.)


4. (U) Duru offered documents to support his claim that
the justices have received 13 Hondas from Honda Place. Both
the panel of justices and the assembled observers reacted
with surprise. Uwais challenged Dure: "Come, remove your
wig and grown, swear and tell us how we received bribe. How
can any responsible counsel allow himself to be used in this
way? You are commissioned to do a dirty job!"

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CURIOUS TWISTS AND TURNS
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5. (SBU) This dispute between the Honda dealers dates from
2001 and has appeared before two previous judicial panels,
one headed by Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, the other by
Justice Salihu Alpha Belgore. CJN Uwais did not participate
in the two previous panels. When the Belgore panel dismissed
Globe Motors' petition in February 2003, Uwais ordered the
case relisted for hearing, with himself in charge of the new
panel, which first sat in April 2003. All the lawyers
representing the parties were present in court at that time,
including Duru, and none raised any objection. Observers
were surprised when Duru accused the justices of impropriety
more than two years later. Some argued if Uwais had a
personal interest in the case, he would have accepted the
decision of Belgore's panel in Honda Place's favor.


6. (C) Curiously, after the stormy court session, Justice
Belgore, a strong contender to be the next CJN after Uwais,
reportedly handed over money to two journalists that covered
the court sitting. Belgore is believed to the sponsor of the
negative campaign against the justices.

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FLURRY OF ALLEGATIONS "NOT NEW"
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7. (SBU) Apart from the allegation of receiving cars, a
petition filed by Duru accused Uwais of buying houses in
Nigeria and abroad, maintaining foreign bank accounts, and
giving out two official cars to each of his two wives. The
petition also accused the CJN of using his position to get
his son a job with one of Nigeria's leading banks. Uwais was
also accused of interfering in the Rivers State case against
Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Limited, the American oil
firm.


8. (SBU) Uwais denied everything, telling reporters these
allegations were not new. He said that over the last few
years, there had been several similar court petitions written
to dent his image. The current petition, he said, is from
the same group, "Patriotic Derivative Front," that had
accused the Supreme Court Justices of receiving about 5
billion naira (about USD 38 million) to find that Delta State
Governor James Ibori of Delta State was not an ex-convict and
therefore was allowed to hold office (reftel). Uwais said he
believed the attacks were meant to force him to retire
prematurely. "The people behind it want to hurry me out of
here so they can take over."


9. (U) Uwais laughed when journalists asked him to
respond: "The Supreme Court has no Honda cars. The National
Judicial Council has 13 cars. The Federal Judicial Service
Commission has five Honda cars. These were purchased from
dealers in Abuja. You can find out. In the Supreme Court,
every justice has a Mercedes as his official car and he has
what is called a backup car, normally a Peugeot."


10. (U) On the topic of the properties he owns, Uwais
declared that he owns five houses, one of which he inherited,
the other four purchased with mortgages. He denied
maintaining any foreign bank account, explaining that he had
an English bank account as a student there, but closed it
when he returned to Nigeria after graduation.


11. (U) Uwais emphatically denied interfering in the Rivers
State case, stating that his only involvement was to respond
to a petition by Halliburton requesting a stay of judgment
against the company. Halliburton had been directed to pay
about USD 6.3 million to some communities of the Niger Delta,
and had both filed an appeal against the judgment and
requested a stay of judgment. Uwais denied the request for a
stay of judgment.


12. (U) Asked whether he was worried, Uwais replied, "I am
worried for both myself and the institution...All these
allegations, all these calumnies to give money to others to
do dirty jobs. I do fear for my life but that will not stop
me from doing my job. If I die today for the sake of
Nigeria, I feel fulfilled," he concluded.

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COMMENT
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13. (C) Justice Belgore's agenda is unclear. Sources
believe he has links with Generals Ibrahim Babangida and
Abdulsalami Abubakar, both former military heads of state,
and is also friendly with Obasanjo. Some observers suggested
that Belgore knows the July 1 verdict, and finding it
unfavorable to the presidency, may be trying to intimidate or
harass the Chief Justice into changing it. Other observers
suggest that Belgore may simply want Uwais' job as Chief
Justice.
CAMPBELL