NIGERIA: YAR'ADUA'S INITIAL ANTI-CORRUPTION RECORD

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SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOE FOR CAROLYN GAY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KCOR NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: YAR'ADUA'S INITIAL ANTI-CORRUPTION RECORD


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Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Heather Merritt for reasons 1
.4. (b & d).


1. (C) SUMMARY. With just over one month in office,
President Umaru Musa Yar'adua made history when he released
his declaration of assets to the public, gaining praise for
his transparency and setting a high marker for other public
officials. However, other of his decisions raise the
question of whether the new president is truly committed to
cleaning up corruption within Nigeria or whether he is only
willing to do so when it is politically expedient. His
recent reshuffling of police commissioners may be a positive
step, but it is also in keeping with the status quo and does
nothing to bring corrupt commissioners to justice. While the
arrest of former Police Inspector General Sunday Ehindero is
positive on the whole, the EFCC has been conspicuously absent
from the investigation. In addition, reports have surfaced
that the EFCC may be stripped of its anti-corruption mandate
to focus on money laundering and terrorism, which could
seriously undermine the GON's ability to investigate and
prosecute corruption cases. Although EFCC denies these
reports, it is unclear what Yar'adua's position on the two
organs is. While Yar'adua has made clear moves to present
himself as a proponent of transparency and anti-corruption
and the release of his declaration of assets should not be
undervalued, on the whole the record of his initial month in
office demonstrates little concrete action to change the
status quo. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) DECLARATION OF ASSETS: With the public release of his
declaration of assets on June 28, President Yar'adua became
the first president in Nigerian history to publicly declare
his assets. Interestingly, the Nigerian Code of Conduct
Bureau actually counseled Yar'adua against the public
declaration, stating that "such an action would put pressure
on other categories of public officials to do the same even
when the Constitution makes the exercise a confidential
matter." Yar'adua was clearly building on the success of his
public declaration of assets upon his inauguration as Katsina
State Governor in 1999. What Yar'adua didn't do, however,
was explain how his assets increased from less than 100
million Naira (775,194 USD) in 1999 to 856,452,892 Naira
(6,639,169 USD) in 2007. In Yar'adua's 2007 declaration, he
claims his income from assets is 18.7 million Naira (144,961
USD) and his wife's income from assets is 132,000 Naira
(1,023 USD). (NOTE: A considerable portion of Yar'adua's
land wealth comes from inheritances from his late brother
Shehu Musa Yar'adua. These assets were included, however, in
the 1999 declaration so they don't account for increase by
more than eight times of his personal assets during his
tenure as Governor.)


3. (C) COMMENT: The historic importance of Yar'adua's
declaration should be neither ignored nor understated and
politicians at national and state levels have already
complained of public pressure to follow suit. That said,
there has been surprisingly little speculation as to the
source of the significant increase in Yar'adua's assets while
governor. While the declaration itself is a positive step,
the lack of discussion and questioning of the source of his
recently accumulated wealth could actually serve to render
the declaration meaningless. END COMMENT.


4. (C) On July 1, Yar'adua announced the redeployment (i.e.,
reshuffling) of state police commissioners. COMMENT.
Reshuffling of this sort is usually thought to reduce
corruption by placing individuals in states where they have
few ties or personal connections. Given the patronage system
that is prevalent in Nigeria, this is not necessarily a bad
approach. It is in keeping, however, with the status quo and
does nothing to try to bring top officials to justice for
wrongdoing. Rather, it simply moves them to a new state in
the hopes they will do less damage. END COMMENT.


5. (C) Former Inspector General of Police Sunday Ehindero was
arrested on July 1 in the ongoing probe into the
disappearance of 157 million Naira (1,217,054 USD) which was
allegedly removed from Police Force Headquarters in Lagos on
May 26, 2007. He was asked to refund 37 million Naira
(286,822 USD) of this sum. In addition to the 37 million
Naira, there is a continuing investigation into a 21 million

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Naira (162,791 USD) scam involving three of Ehindero's close
aides. COMMENT. The arrest of a high-level official such as
Ehindero is a positive step in fighting corruption,
especially within a police service believed to be riddled
with it. Of note, however, is the fact that the EFCC has not
been involved in the investigation and has been completely
quiet on the case. This is highly unusual in a case
involving a person of this level and may be a result of the
personal relationship between Ehindero and EFCC Chairman
Ribadu. END COMMENT.


6. (C) Reports circulated on July 2 that the presidency
clarified delineation of responsibilities between the EFCC
and the ICPC, following complaints by some former governors
of EFCC wrongdoing in investigating their cases. According
to the reports, the EFCC transferred the investigation files
of former state governors to the ICPC, which will take over
the corruption investigations; the EFCC will concentrate its
efforts on money laundering and terrorism. Secretary to the
EFCC Emmanuel Akomaye told Poloff on July 5 that the reports
were not accurate, that the investigation files on former
governors remain with the EFCC and that the EFCC will retain
its role in investigating corruption. He claimed the media
reports to the contrary were "just politics." That said,
there were also reports circulating that Yar'adua was looking
to remove Ribadu as EFCC Chairman and that Ribadu traveled to
Otta on July 2 to meet with former President Obasanjo in an
attempt to save his job.


7. (C) COMMENT. The transfer of responsibility for
investigation and prosecution of corruption cases to solely
the ICPC would greatly impede the GON's ability to fight
corruption. The ICPC has yet to prosecute a case and their
position is viewed by most Nigerians involved in
anti-corruption efforts as passive. Despite questions of
political motivations, the EFCC has successfully investigated
and prosecuted several cases and Chairman Ribadu enjoys a
fair level of credibility internationally. Though it appears
that the reports of delineation of responsibility were not
accurate, Akomaye was clear that politics are involved and it
is not clear what the Villa's position is on the two organs.
END COMMENT.
CAMPBELL