POLITICAL INSIDER ON NIGER DELTA & EFCC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000493

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER NI
SUBJECT: POLITICAL INSIDER ON NIGER DELTA & EFCC

REF: A. LAGOS 485


B. 06 LAGOS 1419

C. LAGOS 134

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Classified By: Ambassador Donald McConnell for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: On July 1, Oronto Douglas, human rights
lawyer and confidant of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan,
said Jonathan will continue to meet with Delta and Bayelsa
state militants throughout July in order to gain community
input on how to improve the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC) is an incubator for politicians
who use the Commission's ample funds to enrich themselves.
President Yar'Adua told two former Niger Delta state
governors to undergo Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) investigations before he would consider nominating
them for ministerial appointments. End Summary.

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GON Meeting Niger Delta Indigenes & Militants
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2. (C) Since early June, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan
has been informally meeting with Niger Delta militants from
Delta and Bayelsa states (Ref A),vice presidential advisor
and human rights lawyer Oronto Douglas told Poloff on July 1.
However, Jonathan's June 28 visit to militant leader Tom
Polo's Camp 5 in Delta State was the first of such meetings
to be publicized, according to Douglas. Jonathan is now
interested in meeting with "the guy in South Africa," whom
Douglas said is also known to be an arms dealer (whom we
believe to be Henry Okah (Ref B)),to determine what
government can do to limit his activities. Douglas said the
GON was not interested in the arms dealer's motivations for
disrupting the region, but that Jonathan wants to gain
insight on how to stop him. When asked whether
criminal/militant elements based in Rivers State would
participate in these talks, Douglas admitted these
individuals were not interested in coming to the table and
would be difficult to deal with. Douglas said the Vice
President would continue to meet militant leaders through
July and predicted that thereafter the government would be
able to focus on "ways forward."


3. (C) Douglas said he is continuing his efforts on behalf
of human rights and environmental issues throughout the
Delta. Beginning in August, Douglas will hold three
conferences in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states under the
aegis of his law firm, the Community Defense Law Foundation
(CDLF),to draw attention to the issues and goals of Niger
Delta indigenes as outlined in his Niger Delta Manifesto (Ref
C). Douglas expects the recommendations reached during the
conferences to be given to the GON. Douglas was hopeful
these suggestions would be discussed during a "summit on the
Niger Delta" which the GON plans to hold on the Niger Delta
in August or September.

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NDDC Is Incubator for Politicians Not Development
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4. (C) The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is an

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incubator for political hopefuls, not for development,
Douglas said. Individuals get appointed to the NDDC to "earn
money" for expensive political campaigns and aspirations.
Therefore the funds going into the NDDC have not been used to
develop the Niger Delta and, Douglas lamented, the Commission
will likely remain this way due to political pressure from
those currently benefiting, as well as from those who hope to
benefit, from positions on the NDDC board. Douglas thinks
President Yar'Adua would need to offer very compelling
reasons to be able to dissolve or restructure the NDDC, and
was not certain Yar'Adua either could or would undertake such
measures.

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Yar'Adua Uses EFCC to Distance Corrupt Governors From GON
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5. (C) While Douglas accused President Obasanjo of using the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for political
gain, he would not predict how much independence Yar'Adua
would give the Commission. Douglas said the GON and EFCC are
jointly working to determine how to handle former jailed
governor of Bayelsa State Diepreye Alamieyeseigha's case
while he receives medical attention in Dubai. Douglas said
the GON is caught between the need to prosecute
Alamieyeseigha for money laundering and his popularity within
the Niger Delta. Douglas said that many indigenes view
Alamieyeseigha as less corrupt than former governors James
Ibori, Peter Odili and Victor Attah from neighboring
oil-producing states and see his prosecution as politically
motivated.


6. (C) The former governors of Delta State, James Ibori, and
of Rivers State, Peter Odili, reportedly expressed their
interest in ministerial appointments directly to President
Yar'Adua. Douglas thought that since Yar'Adua was colleagues
with Odili and Ibori before becoming president he could not
outright reject their requests, which Douglas thought
Yar'Adua was inclined to do given Odili and Ibori's level of
corruption. Yar'Adua told the aspiring ministers he was not
opposed to their continued government service but that they
would need to first clear EFCC investigations. Douglas
posited that Yar'Adua did not expect either Ibori or Odili to
volunteer for EFCC investigations. Douglas further
speculated this was Yar'Adua's political maneuvering to
excise these two from politics--or at least from his
administration. Yar'Adua is a willful and strong individual,
Douglas averred, who will likely extricate himself from
Obasanjo's grasp after six or seven months in office.

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Jonathan Proves Loyalty As Yar'Adua Proxy
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7. (C) President Yar'Adua and Governor Goodluck Jonathan
have an agreeable relationship, Douglas said, but Jonathan
needs to prove his loyalties to the President. While
Jonathan is well known for his loyalty, he and Yar'Adua do
not have a long history together. Jonathan has been tasked
to deliver Yar'Adua's messages and to speak on his behalf at
events at the University of Ibadan and while visiting the
Niger Delta to look at ways to improve the region. This,

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Douglas predicted, would help Jonathan gain Yar'Adua's
confidence.

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Comment
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8. (C) The upcoming summits on the Niger Delta, if they are
structured so as to assure that Delta indigenes participate
actively in and benefit from government efforts, could be a
first step toward peace and stability in the region.
However, the GON will have to follow these summits with
actions to satisfy the needs of the region, a monumental and
costly task. That the GON is dialoging with militants is
essential; at the same time, however, it will need to take
care to not inadvertently displace or ignore other Niger
Deltans to avoid charges of "divide and rule" tactics often
levied at the oil majors. The task of persuading militants
and criminals alike to give up their arms and cease attacks
on oil companies is a formidable one, but one which Jonathan,
on Yar'Adua's behalf, appears to be undertaking. A scant two
months into the Yar'Adua administration, the President and
Vice President appear to have taken some proactive steps
toward their articulated goal of resolving the Niger Delta
crisis. End Comment.

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Biographical Information on Oronto Douglas
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9. (C) Oronto Douglas is considered one of Nigeria's
foremost leaders in the fields of environmental and human
rights law. He founded Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and
supports himself through his private law firm, Community
Defense Law Foundation (CDLF). Thanks to his closeness to
Vice President Jonathan (they both hail from the Ogbia Ijaw
community in Bayelsa State and both worked under
Alamieyeseigha),Douglas actively counsels Jonathan on the
Niger Delta. Douglas is well respected by human rights and
civil society organizations throughout Nigeria.


10. (C) Douglas attended a summer study program at the
University of California, Berkley in the 1990s and was
invited by President Clinton to visit the White House.
Douglas was the former Commissioner of Information for
Bayelsa State under jailed Governor Alamieyeseigha but was
relieved of his position when Alamieyeseigha was arrested in

2006. Douglas anticipates a "Special Advisor" or "Senior
Staff" position under President Yar'Adua; if this does not
occur, he will likely remain a preeminent spokesman of and
advocate for the Niger Delta.
MCCONNELL