VICE PRESIDENT ATIKU ON THE THIRD TERM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000261 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W STATE FOR INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF NI SUBJECT: VICE PRESIDENT ATIKU ON THE THIRD TERM Classified By: Consul General Brian Browne for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) During a February 11 conversation with the Consul General, embattled Vice President Atiku expostulated that President Obasanjo was fixated on running for a third term with a new running mate. Atiku said Obasanjo had no successor in mind for the presidency and would seek to clip the wings of either friend or foe who sought that role. Nevertheless, Atiku predicted Obasanjo's plan to amend the constitution would fail in the National Assembly. Atiku planned to run in 2007, whether as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate or against Obasanjo as the standard-bearer of an opposition coalition. Claiming numerous indignities to him being committed by the Presidency, Atiku declared he would not be tricked into resigning office. He also asserted that polls conducted by a US-based firm showed him to be more popular than the President. END Summary. -------------- President Set on Third Term -------------- ¶2. (C) In a February 11 meeting with the Consul General, Vice President Atiku contended that President Obasanjo was bent on seeking a third term via a constitutional amendment. Not only did this quest pit Obasanjo and a few opportunistic supporters against most of Nigeria, it had ethnic, regional, and religious ramifications that Atiku described as "potentially catastrophic." He lamented that Obasanjo, purportedly seeking another term because he was the only man who could reform Nigeria, may become the man to take Nigeria to the brink of rupture. Ambition was blinding Obasanjo from seeing the vast and ironic gap between what he claims is his objective and what has been the deleterious impact of his hot pursuit of another stint in office. -------------- -------------- President Faces Obstacles to a Third Term in the House -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Atiku opined that Obasanjo's biggest hurdle to a third term was the National Assembly. Intimating that he was mobilizing his supporters in the Assembly, Atiku predicted Obasanjo would fall short of cobbling together the two-thirds majority needed for a constitutional amendment. Due to strident anti-Obasanjo sentiment in the North, Atiku claimed most northern legislators opposed the third term, regardless of the pecuniary inducements he accused Obasanjo of offering to Assembly members. Legislators in the Alliance for Democracy (AD) party and maverick PDP lawmakers would also ally with the mostly All Nigeria Peoples' Party (ANPP) northerners to block Obasanjo's quest, Atiku predicted. ¶4. (C) Atiku claimed that Obasanjo soon would begin to press hard to get National Assembly approval because time was running against him. According to PDP guidelines, potential candidates had to publicly declare their intentions to seek the party's nomination by late March - early April. Thus, Obasanjo would need the constitutional amendment in hand by this expiry date. Atiku contended that his supporters in the Assembly were poised to foil Obasanjo's timetable. According to Assembly rules, each lawmaker has the opportunity to comment on every proposed constitutional amendment. Also, there is no time limit placed on a member's comments. This liberal debating rule would be used by his supporters to filibuster the amendment, asserted the Vice President. ¶5. (C) Should Obasanjo emerge victoriously from the National Assembly, then his chances of a third term brighten significantly, Atiku conceded. Cowed and frightened by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),most governors are passive and will not actively oppose the President. Nevertheless, some governors are walking a tightrope between an agressive Obasanjo machine and an irate public. The Governor of Kaduna State was recently attacked in his private home as a result of his perceived support for Obasanjo. The Governor of Bauchi, a known Obasanjo acolyte, has begun to absent himself from the national governors' forum meetings because of pressure to his mostly anti-Obasanjo constituents, Atiku maintained. LAGOS 00000261 002 OF 002 -------------- VP Sees Himself as Popular -------------- ¶6. (C) Despite his troubles with Obasanjo, Atiku was sanguine about his chances if he made it to an election. He said he had hired an American public relations firm whose clients include John Kerry and Bill Clinton. This firm was helping to sculpt his campaign. He said the firm has taken two polls in Nigeria, one in June and the other in December 2005, to assess his popularity. The first poll found Nigerians split almost evenly in their support for the major Presidential candidates: Obasanjo, Babangida, Buhari, and Atiku. However, the second poll showed Atiku had distanced himself from the other three. He attributed this increased popularity to the clear pro-democracy statements he has made that signalled his public "break" with Obasanjo. Atiku expressed confidence he would beat Obasanjo in a fair election, and he claimed no apprehension of a head-on contest against his boss. ¶7. (C) The Vice President mentioned that he was working with the AD, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA),Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD) and other parties and organizations to establish a coalition should Obasanjo continue his bid for a third term. He also stated that Buhari, Babangida and he, despite their conflicting presidential ambitions, had reached a gentleman's agreement to work together toward three goals: 1) No Obasanjo third-term, 2) Return of the presidency to the North, and 3) Free and fair elections. -------------- -------------- Problems in the Delta Take a Backseat to Party Politics -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) When asked for his view on stabilizing the Delta region, Atiku criticized Obasanjo for mishandling the region but did not offer any new solutions. The Consul General warned him that Nigerian office-holders should be advised against letting the jockeying for 2007 be their sole focus. They needed to keep an eye on governance and nowhere was that attention more necessary than in the Delta. Unless more attention was focused on the Delta, the energy dissipated by politicking would be for naught. Whoever emerged as victorious might find himself the leader of a nation suffering a significant degree of self-inflicted paresis due to inattention to the Delta. It behooved everyone to assist in resolving this problem, lest the Nigeria that everyone is scrambling tooth-and-nail to lead become less than it already is, the CG advised. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) Atiku's preoccupation with his political future is understandable, given his recent battles, pitched or otherwise, with the President. On February 10, CNN's Inside Africa aired a scathing portrait of the Vice President, claiming his blatant corruption hampers the administration's ability to crack down on others. Despite the optimism and firmness the Vice President tried to show, his position and support are softening. His is an uphill battle that is getting steeper by the day. But at this stage, he probably feels he has little choice but to fight for his political life -- and the only way he can survive is to become President. Meanwhile, the GON is doing very little to tackle the problems of the tumultuous Delta. With party nominating conventions set for July - August and the Obasanjo camp in hot pursuit of a third-term amendment, the political GAME is heating up and becoming all-encompassing, drawing attention away from some of Nigeria's most urgent problems of governance, like the Delta. END Comment. BROWNE