DELTA ACTIVISTS PREDICT ELECTORAL UNREST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000197 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA, DS/IP/AF, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC WARSAW FOR LISA PIASCIK CIUDAD JUAREZ FOR DONNA BLAIR ISTANBUL FOR TASHAWNA SMITH SAO PAULO FOR ANDREW WITHERSPOON DOE FOR GPERSON, CAROLYN GAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS, SRENENDER, DFIELDS COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR FLISER STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2017 TAGS: NI PGOV PREL PTER SUBJECT: DELTA ACTIVISTS PREDICT ELECTORAL UNREST REF: LAGOS 58 LAGOS 00000197 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for reasons 1.4 (B) and ( D) ¶1. (C) Summary: Ledum Mitee, President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP),told AF/W Director Phillip Carter that free and fair elections are unlikely. Both the People's Democratic Party Governorship candidates in Rivers and Delta states are unpopular with the large Ijaw communities in those states. On the national scene, only Vice President Atiku has presented a credible plan to spur development in the Niger Delta, believed Mitee. Oronto Douglas, a political and environmental activist, believes elections may not take place. End Summary. -------------- State of Elections is Troubling -------------- ¶2. (C) Ledum Mitee, Niger Delta indigene and President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), told AF/W Director Phillip Carter during a March 1 dinner that electoral preparations are disturbing. During a recent conversation with representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),Mitee was told the elections would likely be neither free nor fair; nonetheless, he hopes some semblance of freedom and fairness would emerge. Mitee wished that almost all electoral officers and commissioners be replaced because "they've all been compromised." ¶3. (C) On south-south politics, Mitee speculated President Obasanjo's decision to endorse Celestine Omehia as the People's Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for Rivers State may have mollified Governor Peter Odili. If so, Odili will access his significant coffers and political clout to bring the vote home to the PDP. However, Mitee did not think Omehia was popular with most PDP party members. Also, the selection of Omehia, an ethnic Ikwerre, will rankle the large Ijaw community in Rivers, including many Ijaw militants who will see the ascendance of a member of the minority Ikwerre as a slap in the face. ¶4. (C) Oronto Douglas, a Niger Delta human rights activist, told Carter that President Obasanjo has not yet accurately assessed the gravity of the showdown between Ijaw Chief Clark and Governor James Ibori in Delta State over the announcement of Ibori's Itsekiri cousin, Emmanuel Uduaghan, as the PDP gubernatorial candidate. Emboldened by Ijaw militants in the state, Clark has been publicly expostulating Ibori about his nepotism, Douglas said. ¶5. (C) Angered at being forced to withdraw from the presidential primary, Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State will likely be given the consolation prize of heading Nigeria's diplomatic mission in Washington or London so long as he helps the PDP carry his state, Douglas predicted. Douglas stated Akwa Ibom Governor Attah was also perturbed by the conduct of the PDP presidential primaries but Douglas did no think much would be done to douse Attah's ire. On national politics, Douglas thought the PDP would be better served if Vice President Atiku were allowed to run under the Action Congress (AC) because he would split the northern vote, thus weakening the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) Muhammadu Buhari's support base. Douglas also welcomed the LAGOS 00000197 002.2 OF 003 selection of Bayelsa Governor Goodluck Jonathan, an ethnic Ijaw, as the PDP vice presidential candidate. Douglas, is Ijaw. Although Jonathan was not a commanding figure, his selection was greeted positively by most Ijaws. Moreover, Jonathan had done a good job in Bayelsa; a level-headed, stable personality, he would prove to be a credible vice president, Douglas asserted. ¶6. (C) Douglas reasoned that if a transition occurs, the first six months of the new administration will be the most crucial for Nigeria. If PDP presidential candidate Umaru Yar'Adua wins, Douglas suspects Atiku will land in jail and Yar'Adua will remain weak and surrounded by people trying to acquire wealth. Buhari, on the other hand, has zero tolerance for corruption and would achieve results his own way, Mitee predicted. Instead of becoming vindictive, Buhari would make it clear corrupt behavior would not be tolerated. ¶7. (C) Douglas criticized election campaigning, commenting Vice President Atiku is the only presidential candidate whose platform includes improving the south-south by establishing a Ministry of the Niger Delta, or increasing the 13 percent derivation. Douglas chided the PDP for not yet presenting a plan, vision, or strategy to address the Delta, even though the Vice Presidential candidate hails from Bayelsa. -------------- Expect Violence in Election Season -------------- ¶8. (C) Douglas believes there is mounting evidence of a "pre-arranged election program" favoring the PDP or even President Obasanjo's desire to remain in office by postponing elections. Moreover, important court cases have yet to be decided, including reinstated Anambra Governor Peter Obi's demand to postpone elections and the cases challenging Vice President Atiku's disqualifications, which could serve as excuses to delay the election and extend the President's term in office. The Niger Delta is another flashpoint which could make April come and go without elections occurring, Douglas warned. ¶9. (C) Mitee expects unrest in Rivers and Delta due to Ijaw resentment at the outcome of the PDP primaries and the PDP's unwillingness to treat equitably with the Ijaws. However, if compromises are reached by the end of March, things could settle down as Nigeria is very unpredictable, Douglas advised. Mitee and Douglas expect Bayelsa state to be fairly calm following PDP gubernatorial candidate Timipre Sylva's move to take over Jonathan's policies, key officials, and party machinery. ¶10. (C) Violence has become the new norm in Nigeria and corruption the glue that holds the country together, Mitee lamented. Compounding the situation is poor dialogue between the impoverished north, which often rallies behind religion, and the impoverished south. NGOs are unable to address nationwide corruption because few of them have national reach, he commented. Nigerian political culture thus far allows for little long-term planning, Mitee commented; Nigerians live day by day until their group's turn at the trough comes. -------------- -------------- MEND: The Franchise, and the Real Story of Soboma George LAGOS 00000197 003.2 OF 003 -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) Regarding Ijaw militant groups, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is a loose amalgam of armed individuals, Mitee said. It has become a popular name used by many, Douglas commented, who have neither clear leadership nor common purpose. ¶12. (C) Mitee believes the early January arrest of criminal militant leader Soboma George (Reftel) was not accidental, as public announcements claimed. George is well known in Port Harcourt. He reportedly took naira 160 million (approximately USD 1.25 million) from the Honorable Rotimi Amaechi, Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, to silence detractors from contesting his pursuit for the gubernatorial nomination. George took the money but did not do the intimidation. Rotimi, who originally had won the nomination, had him arrested. However, the arrest ignited a confrontation, with George's forces extricating him from jail. So full of himself and his place in Rivers, George refused the return of his old car from the government. He demanded and received a new vehicle paid for by the state. Additionally, the state reimbursed 5 million naira (approximately USD 39,000) allegedly confiscated from his old car. George farms out his boys for dirty work, thus the State wants him on its side at this time, Mitee said, attributing the October 2006 bombing of Anambra State Government House to George's gang. -------------- Ogoni Left Out of GON-Shell Negotiations -------------- ¶13. (C) Mitee asserted that no progress had been made with Shell in Ogoniland. Father Matthew Kukah, a government-appointed negotiator "has done nothing" to communicate with or include the Ogoni in negotiations, according to Mitee, who is President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). On September 27, 2006, Mitee told President Obasanjo it would be difficult to repair the rift between the Ogonis and SPDC; Obasanjo agreed. The President told Mitee he was looking for other companies, such as Repsol and a Spanish oil company, to take over Shell's license. ¶14. (C) However, one week later, Father Kukah publicly announced the relationship between the Ogoni and Shell was mended and the clean-up of Ogoniland was the only remaining issue. Contractors began fighting over who should be awarded the clean-up contract and where the limited clean-up should commence, which built tension between the communities, Mitee lamented. The tension peaked when one community accused another of killing a woman. ¶15. (C) Also at odds are the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC),Shell's Nigerian partner, and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The DPR decided to accommodate the Ogoni's complaints and to hand Shell's concessions to another operator, Mitee said. However, NNPC refused to approve the change, insisting on a different partner, one who would preserve Shell's interests. BROWNE