NIGERIA: PRESIDENT OBASANJO CONVENES MEETING ON

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002168

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2015
TAGS: SNAR PREL PGOV NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: PRESIDENT OBASANJO CONVENES MEETING ON
NARCOTICS

REF: ABUJA 002020

Classified By: Charge Thomas P. Furey for Reasons 1.5(b),(d)


1. Summary: President Obasanjo convened a meeting
November 9 to continue the discussion on Nigeria,s record on
fighting narcotics trafficking. The Chairman of the NDLEA,
Dr. Bello, gave an impassioned presentation refuting American
and British allegations of poor performance that was weak on
substance. The President gave no indication that he thought
Dr. Bello had succeeded in refuting the allegations and he
thanked the Americans and British for &raising the alarm.8
President Obasanjo has received the message and appears to
understand the gravity of the situation. Whether or not any
action flows from this, the Nigerians will not be able to say
that they were not warned if Nigeria does not get recertified
six months from now. End Summary.


2. Following up on the October 20 President Obasanjo had
with Ambassador Campbell and the British High Commissioner,
the President convened a meeting of his law enforcement
officials November 9 to discuss further Nigeria,s record on
narcotics interdiction. The British High Commissioner and I
were invited to participate. The President opened by asking
the Chairman of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA),Dr. Bello Lafiaji, to respond to the &serious
allegations8 of poor performance by his agency that have
been made by the Americans and British officials.


3. Dr. Bello had prepared a power point presentation that
was long on graphics and short on substance. At one point
President Obasanjo somewhat irritably told Dr. Bello to move
it along. Dr. Bello cited statistics showing the number of
people who had been arrested and prosecuted over the last
several years and the amount of drugs seized, but he never
addressed one of our main criticisms: the fact that the
arrests have been of low-level couriers and not of any drug
kingpins and that the drug shipments seized have been small
shipment and not any of the large, significant ones.
Although Dr. Bello stated as a fact that major traffickers
have been arrested and large shipments have been seized, he
did not cite any specific evidence that would support those
claims.


4. Dr. Bello,s presentation was impassioned. At several
points he spoke quite loudly to emphasize his points. He
ended by noting that the NDLEA works closely with DEA Lagos
and with the British drug enforcement officials and that the
relationship needed to be based on mutual trust. His tone
was one of someone who was hurt by the &unfair allegations.8


5. President Obasanjo then turned to the British High
Commissioner and me. The High Commissioner noted that there
was no new evidence here to refute the allegations that we
had made, that the amount of narcotics entering the UK and
the U.S. from Nigeria continues to grow, and that there was
irrefutable evidence that NDLEA officials had fabricated
evidence to support a Nigerian drug kingpin, Dr. Gabriel
Solomons, who had been convicted in the UK. He noted that a
major trafficker had been arrested in Lagos after the
American and British officials complained last month but that
there has been no publicity about this arrest and it was
unclear whether the authorities would vigorously pursue
prosecution. I noted that the reason we were raising these
issues now was that Nigeria would be coming up for
recertification in approximately six months and there are
many people in Washington who are questioning whether Nigeria
should be recertified, given their track record in recent
years. A denial of recertification for Nigeria would have
grave implications for the bilateral relationship, including
a significant reduction in our aid program.


6. The President thanked the Americans and British for
&raising the alarm8 and said that Nigeria, the U.S., and
the UK are all working for the same objective of fighting
narcotics trafficking. He turned to Dr. Bello and, in a tone
that was somewhat lecturing, told him that he &should not
take anything for granted.8 He said there needed to be
greater communications flows in both directions and all
information had to be investigated. He ended the meeting by
stating that the &relationship should be smooth8 and the
concerns raised by the U.S. and the UK should not be viewed
as an indictment of NDLEA but rather as a call for greater
cooperation.


7. Comment: Clearly President Obasanjo is seized with the
issue of Nigeria,s record on narcotics interdiction. He did
not at any point in the meeting indicate that he thought that
Dr. Bello had successfully refuted the allegations we have
raised. He also did not indicate in any way that he thought
the allegations were unfounded. His role during the meeting
was more that of a facilitator who was trying to bring two
sides together. It remains to be seen where the NDLEA goes
from here, but if Nigeria does face a loss of certification
they will not be able to say that they were not warned.

FUREY