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 ABUJA 00000184 002 OF 002 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