ALIYU WILL NOT PUBLICLY NAME FRAUDSTERS IN NASS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000184

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOE FOR CAROLYN GAY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER KCOR KCRM NI
SUBJECT: ALIYU WILL NOT PUBLICLY NAME FRAUDSTERS IN NASS

Classified By: Political Counselor Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b
& d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: PolOff and INLOff met with Nuhu Aliyu,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Security and
Intelligence, to discuss his recent disclosure that he had
overseen fraud investigations of current members of the
National Assembly while he served as Deputy Inspector General
of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department.
Aliyu pledged to give names only to Senate President David
Mark, and if Mark allowed, to Speaker of the House Dimeji
Bankole. Aliyu categorically denied reports that he had
received any death threats. Neither Aliyu nor his northern
colleague Senator Maccido expressed objection to the
re-introduction of an anti-terrorism bill in 2008. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) PolOff and INLOff met with Senator Nuhu Aliyu (PDP )
Niger North),Chairman of the Senate Committee on Security
and Intelligence on January 28 to discuss his recent
disclosure during debate on the Senate floor about the
anti-corruption campaign that he had personally overseen
fraud investigations of current members of the National
Assembly, while he was Deputy Inspector General of Police in
charge of the Criminal Investigation Department. Aliyu
refrained from giving names, or even hinting at how many
individuals were involved in the House and Senate
respectively. He also refuted a newspaper report that he had
received death threats and had stopped answering his phone as
a result. Nevertheless, he stated that &Even if I give my
life, my family would know their father sacrificed himself
for something worth it.8 Aliyu was passionate and decried
the fact that, in his view, innocent Nigerians around the
world were assumed to be fraudsters.


3. (C) Aliyu acknowledged that his credibility and reputation
were at stake and pledged to give names only to Senate
President David Mark, and if Mark allowed, to Speaker of the
House Dimeji Bankole, so as not to be accused of character
assassination. He also noted that any subsequent public leak
would therefore be traceable to one of those two. When asked
what he would do if Mark refused to let him give names to
Bankole, he said that he would comply and not tell Bankole
out of respect for the office of Senate President, a position
for which he contested but lost to Mark. He commented that
Mark had been Obasanjo,s choice, and expressed his own deep
animosity towards the former President.


4. (C) Aliyu was self-deprecating, referring to himself as
"uneducated8 unlike Professor (and Senator) Jubril Aminu
whom he described as an &intellectual.8 He was
nevertheless rather dismissive of the Speaker of the House,
whom he considered too young and of dubious responsibility,
given the fact that he was not yet married. (Note: Press
reports several months ago suggest that Bankole did in fact
get married.) Aliyu refused to describe Bankole as even a
&young man8 instead calling him a &boy8 while remarking
that the Speaker was younger than his own children. He
insisted on recounting in detail how the 419 scams (FYI: the
Nigerian name for "advance-fee" fraud, because of the
appropriate section of the criminal code) are perpetrated.


5. (C) PolOff also solicited Aliyu's views on the potential
for reintroduction of antiterrorism legislation, given the
latter's position of Chairman of the Security and
Intelligence Committee, a former policeman, and a northern
Senator. Aliyu confirmed that the previous terrorism bill
had not reached his committee, as it had been withdrawn the
day of its second reading. He did not express any objections
and encouraged PolOff to speak to Senator Abubakar Gada (PDP
) Sokoto East) whom he speculated would emerge as the leader
of the Northern Forum (the caucus of northern senators).
(Note: Earlier that day, PolOff spoke with Senator Ahmed
Maccido, son of the late Sultan of Sokoto and nephew of the
current Sultan; he was also generally amenable to an
antiterrorism bill, and suggested involving the Sultan in a
public education campaign in advance of the introduction of
any legislation.)


6. (C) COMMENT: Aliyu,s deference to Senate President David
Mark is puzzling, particularly given Aliyu,s expressed
hostility to Mark,s patron, Obasanjo. One can infer from
Aliyu,s willingness to provide a list to the Senate

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President that Mark himself is not one of the individuals to
whom Aliyu is referring. Indeed, graft rumors against Mark
go far beyond 419 scams and generally involve contract
kickbacks during his tenure as communications minister.
Aliyu,s dismissal of Bankole as a lightweight was
disappointing, as the Speaker would probably be a useful ally
on corruption. The openness of Aliyu, a devout Muslim, to
antiterrorism legislation (and that of Maccido, as a relative
of the Sultan) is welcome. END COMMENT.
SANDERS