UTOMI BELIEVES HE MAY BE A VICE-PRESIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000028 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W STATE FOR INR/AA CIUDAD JUAREZ FOR DONNA BLAIR ISTANBUL FOR TASHAWNA SMITH SAO PAOLO FOR ANDREW WITHERSPOON WARSAW FOR LISA PIASCIK E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM NI SUBJECT: UTOMI BELIEVES HE MAY BE A VICE-PRESIDENTIAL POSSIBILITY REF: 06 LAGOS 1387 LAGOS 00000028 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (C) Summary: African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential candidate Pat Utomi told the Consul General his candidacy has resonated within segments of the electorate tired of traditional Nigerian politics, which is more personality-oriented than issue-based. Utomi plans to reach out to voters using a western-style campaign that will take him across the length and breadth of the country. While obviously enjoying the attention brought by the campaign, Utomi realizes his presidential candidacy is an extremely long-shot that would more require the working of a miracle than a marksman to achieve. He has a greater possibility, albeit still an unlikelihood, of taking up residence in Aso Villa as a Vice-President. In this vein, he is in contact with Action Congress (AC) candidate Atiku Abubakar and All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) candidate Muhammadu Buhari. Utomi would prefer teaming with Atiku but has not destroyed his bridges with Buhari, who he sees as an opponent to market-oriented economic reform. End summary. -------------- Utomi Presidential Campaign Underway -------------- ¶2. (C) On January 6, Lagos Business School Director Pat Utomi officially secured the presidential nomination from the African Democratic Congress (ADC). In a December 22 conversation with the Consul General, Utomi summarized how he believed his campaign has evolved thus far. Utomi started the campaign as a protest against the traditional way of doing politics. He said he did not give himself much of a chance at the onset. ¶3. (C) Utomi's primary objective was to force the candidates of the major parties to discuss key issues. He wanted to infuse the election with a substantive content theretofore lacking. However, Utomi now believes he has generated a following that, although not enough to describe as an avalanche of grassroots support, is too large to ignore. As Utomi put it, he is "now in the mix." Buoyed by this reception, he thinks he can gain further traction by actively �A;campaigning at the grassroots level, something the major candidates, save for perhaps Atiku, will be reticent to do because of their reserved personalities and political upbringings. Utomi planned to hire consultants from Washington who worked on the successful Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. Utomi said he will wage a modern, western-style campaign, involving public speeches and meeting people one-on-one. ¶4. (C) Utomi thinks he has a set of strengths that can appeal to a wide spectrum of the electorate. Utomi, who was schooled in Kano, believes he relates well with Northerners and knows their concerns. He counts on an impressive roster of friends and political allies there, he claimed. Some of them have taken it upon themselves to put up posters of Utomi, appropriating to him an Islamic first name to broaden his appeal to the Northern masses, he beamed. Utomi hails from the South-South, so he has a bit of favorite son appeal to that strategic region. Also, a growing number of people of that area are disenchanted with the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and some are giving the Utomi candidacy serious consideration. Utomi, from Igbo stock, has a natural constituency in the Igbo Southeast. Some Igbo supporters are attempting to form a core group of Igbo luminaries to back Utomi. Although welcoming the support, Utomi voiced reservation about establishing an ethnic base of support. First, he did not want to be pigeon-holed as an "Igbo candidate", thus alienating non-Igbos. Second, the move to establish an ethnic dimension to the campaign could be interpreted by some as Utomi having descended to employ venal tricks of the political trade just to curry favor. ¶5. (C) Utomi contended he had strong support from church LAGOS 00000028 002.2 OF 003 leaders and their followers. Although he is a Roman Catholic, many senior leaders from the Pentacostal movement have endorsed him, some wanted to convene a meeting between Utomi and Fresh Democratic Party (FDP) candidate and well-known Pentacostal preacher Chris Okotie to ask Okotie to stand down in favor of Utomi. However, Utomi demurred, because he wanted to avoid the perception that he was of the character to apply backroom pressure to convince another candidate to quit. Again, such a move would make him look like a practitioner of politics as usual. This would cause him more loss than any gain derived from persuading Okotie from the race. ¶6. (C) Utomi also stated that student associations on many if not most campuses across the country have backed him. This amounted to millions of potential voters, Utomi stated. In the end, he would not have the funds possessed by the other candidates, but he hoped to compensate by having better quality ideas and a larger number of bona fide supporters who will themselves contribute time and energy with a few naira here and there to help him sustain his campaign. -------------- Atiku or Buhari? Utomi Evaluates... -------------- ¶7. (C) Despite progress in his campaign, Utomi realized he is a presidential long-shot. He saw the Vice-Presidency as more possible. Utomi has discussed this possibility with both Action Congress (AC) candidate Atiku Abubakar and All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) candidate Muhammadu Buhari. Comparing the two, Utomi would prefer Atiku to Buhari. Utomi has known Atiku for twenty years. Although Atiku has some lapses in his personal integrity, overall Utomi saw Atiku as more personable, accessible, receptive to advice, and reformist. Utomi rightly credited Atiku with having organized the current administration's respected economic reform team. Obasanjo did not know these people; his contacts were limited to the military and old guard politicians, Utomi maintained. Because of his free market leanings, Atiku was the person who assembled the economic reform team. However, Atiku's recent legal troubles have given Utomi pause, and he has been hesitating in joining forces with Atiku, Utomi said. ¶8. (C) Buhari's integrity is beyond reproach and the General would be effective battling corruption. Nevertheless, Utomi doubted Buhari had the vision and insight to lead Nigeria effectively. Economically, Utomi characterized Buhari as having an Eastern European-socialist mindset favoring significant government intervention in the market. Utomi labelled Buhari suspicious of people who made a profit in business. Utomi told the Consul General he would only join forces with Buhari if Buhari would support market-oriented reform and leave stewardship of that economy in Utomi's hands. (Note: Current ANPP Vice-Presidential candidate Edwin Ume-Ezeoke is a placeholder until Buhari finds a more attractive running mate. Ume-Ezeoke, former Speaker of the House under President Shagari and most recently ANPP Chairman, lacks political machinery and has little name recognition even among Igbo voters. Buhari has until February 13 to replace Ume-Ezeoke. End note) ¶9. (C) Utomi commented that Buhari erred in not earlier attempting to shore up his weak southern base. Many southerners viewed Buhari as an intolerant religious extremist. Buhari, in Utomi's opinion, should have spent more time dispelling this perception by visiting the South prior to winning the nomination. Now that Buhari has the nomination, his campaigning in the South appears an attempt to win votes, Utomi observed. ¶10. (C) Utomi saw many similarities in background and outlook between PDP presidential candidate Umaru Yar'Adua and Buhari. Both men were from Katsina and observant Muslims. Neither candidate was very outgoing and neither enjoyed campaigning and meeting people, Utomi said. LAGOS 00000028 003.2 OF 003 -------------- AC-ANPP Alliance Unlikely to Happen -------------- ¶11. (C) Utomi recalled that Atiku, despite his perennial skirmishing with Obasanjo, warned Utomi a Buhari presidency would be worse than Obasanjo's. Atiku was apprehensive of Buhari's mental inflexibility and his disdain for the private sector, Utomi recalled. (Comment: If this is a true measure of Atiku's sentiment, Atiku would be extremely reticent to closet his presidential ambition in order to support Buhari. Consequently, the purported AC/ANPP alliance might be headed for the shoals. End comment) -------------- Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) Comment: Utomi's quixotic venture, although it has gained some momentum, has not shed its original character--that of an unlikelihood reinforced by near impossibility. According to political odds-makers, Utomi remains a long-shot for both high offices. However, what he says about the personalities of Atiku and Buhari, the two leading opposition presidential candidates, are telling since he talks to both not only about electioneering but also regarding what they would do if given the helm of state. For Utomi, Buhari scores high on personal integrity but Atiku outdistances the former general on economic policy. In the final analysis, breathing that special intoxicant called ambition may have caused Utomi to fall victim to the common malady of politicians--overestimation of one's own popularity and influence. However, his take on the two leading opposition figures is shrewd and probably on point. End comment. BROWNE