NIGERIAN TERRORISM BILL PASSES 2ND SENATE READING,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001899

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA
DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PTER PINS PINR PGOV KCRM KHLS KTFN EPET NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN TERRORISM BILL PASSES 2ND SENATE READING,
SENT TO COMMITTEE

Classified By: Acting DCM Bob Tansey for reasons 1.4. (b & d).


1. (U) Summary: On September 16, the Nigerian Senate voted
to send counterterrorism legislation to an ad-hoc committee
comprised of members of the Senate National Security &
Intelligence, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, after
passing its second reading. The ad-hoc committee, headed by
Security & Intelligence Chairman Nuhu Aliyu, will hold
hearings (some perhaps closed to the public),and review and
report on the legislation, before referring it to the chamber
for debate prior to a third and final vote. Introduction of
a similar bill, also based on the Commonwealth model
terrorism legislation, is expected soon in the House. Senate
leadership is optimistic about its bill's eventual passage,
though various technical matters must still be addressed in
committee, primarily harmonizing it with existing statutes.
End Summary.


2. (C) Senate Bill (SB) 128 "A Bill for an Act to Make
Provisions for the Enhancement of Nigerian National Security
and for Other Matters Connected Therewith" is an almost
verbatim copy of the "Model Legislative Provisions on
Measures to Combat Terrorism" published by the Commonwealth
Secretariat. In February, PolOff provided copies of the
model legislation and various UN Conventions on Terrorism to
Senator Nuhu Aliyu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on
National Security and Intelligence, senior aides to Senate
President David Mark, Deputy Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba,
and Senator Anthony George Manzo (PDP-Taraba) who introduced
the bill in the Senate on July 7.


3. (C) The original sponsor of the ill-fated 2006 "Prevention
of Terrorism Act", former Senator Ben Ndi-Obi (strictly
protect),Atiku Abubakar's Vice Presidential running mate in
the 2007 elections, told PolOff late last year that he had
pulled the 2006 legislation the day of its second reading
because he had found out that a group of Northern senators
had decided the bill was "anti-Muslim" and vowed to kill it.
Obi opined that the current crop of Northern Senators was
more thoughtful and perhaps less-inclined to believe in
conspiracy theories than those he had served with. Other
Senate members have suggested that bad timing was what really
doomed the 2006 bill, having been considered at a
particularly rancorous time when nobody wanted to give the
Obasanjo administration any legislative victory, which
roughly coincided with the Third Term effort.


4. (C) Post suggested to Senate members and staff that to
improve the current legislation's chances of passage, the
word "terrorism" should be eliminated from the bill's title,
that it should have as many Northern co-sponsors as possible,
and preferably be introduced by somebody from the North.
(Note: Anthony "George" Manzo (PDP-Taraba North) who was
designated point person for the legislation by the Senate
President, and introduced it, hails from the North-East zone,
though he is a Christian.) Of SB 128's original eleven
cosponsors, four are from the north, four are from the
South-South, including Lee Maeba (PDP-Rivers Southeast) from
the heart of the Delta, and three from the Southwest. The
bill is also co-sponsored and strongly supported by senior
Senator and former Deputy Inspector General of Police Nuhu
Aliyu (PDP-Niger North).


5. (C) PolOff spoke with Congressman Farouk Lawan
(PDP-Bagwai/Shanono; Kano State) about the Senate bill on
July 24, and provided him a copy of it. Lawan mentioned that
"If it has already been introduced in the Senate, then we
should begin working on it in the House." PolOff shared the
British Foreign Office's observation that the sentencing
limits for some offenses contained within the bill were
somewhat lenient, particularly vis-a-vis American and British
standards. (Note: PolOff had earlier provided copies of SB
128 to his counterpart at the British High Commission, who
had forwarded it to London. End note.) Lawan commented that
"we should not have sentences that are too lenient or too
harsh, but somewhere in between." (Note: The Commonwealth
model provisions contain blank spaces for countries to
determine their own jail terms for each offense, and offer no

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guidelines. End Note.)


6. (C) Immediately after the successful second vote on the
bill, PolOff, INL Off and INL/C officer visiting from
Washington met with the Honorable Rabe Nasir
(PDP-Mani/Bindawa; Katsina State),Vice Chairman of the House
Committee on Drugs, Narcotics & Financial Crimes until the
dissolution of all but three House Committees on July 31.
Nasir said that he would "probably be named... as early as
tomorrow" the new Chairman of the House Committee on National
Security. Nasir was previously an intelligence officer for
the former State Security Service (SSS),now known as the
Department for State Security (DSS) who was in charge of SSS
operations at the National Assembly. Subsequently he was a
Special Assistant to former Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) Chairman Nuhu Ribadu, whom he considers a
close friend and confidante, before entering politics. PolOff
is providing Congressman Nasir with a copy of the Senate bill
and noted Lawan's interest and general support to him. Nasir
echoed concerns expressed during the floor debate about the
definition of a "terrorist".


7. (C) Comment: Nigeria may actually be on its way to having
some comprehensive counterterrorism (CT) legislation, beyond
the brief couple of catch-all sections covering terrorism
contained within the EFCC Act. At present there is not really
any statutory framework on the books for international
cooperation on issues of transnational terrorism. To date
Nigeria has adopted nine of the sixteen universal conventions
and protocols against terrorism. Ironically, the 2005
"Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the
Safety of Fixed Platforms Located on the Continental Shelf"
i.e. oil platforms, is not one of the nine. A September 18
report on Voice of America (VOA) suggests there exists a
widespread view amongst the public that the terrorism bill is
aimed at Niger Delta militants. The bill's chief sponsor
Senator Manzo told PolOff at the time of SB 128's submission
that the June 19 attack against Shell's deepwater Bonga oil
platform had underscored for many of his colleagues the need
for such statutes. Though we may not know the exact
intentions of all of the various Nigerian policymakers, the
issue of terrorism in Nigeria should be viewed through the
prism of the North-South rivalry and struggle for political
supremacy. The 2006 CT bill introduced under a Southern
President was decried as being aimed specifically at
Northerners and "anti-Muslim." Now, with a Northern head of
state, CT legislation is being described by some as aimed
squarely at the restive Niger Delta. End comment.
SANDERS