NIGERIA: RUMORS AND MURMURS OF CHANGE, BUT STILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001986 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: RUMORS AND MURMURS OF CHANGE, BUT STILL NO CABINET RESHUFFLE REF: ABUJA 1966 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Acting DCM Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b & d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Although the long-awaited and much-discussed Cabinet reshuffle still has not materialized, we are starting to see some changes around the edges of the administration. President Yar'Adua appointed three prominent ANPP members (FYI: the ANPP is one of two opposition parties which have agreed to join a Government of National Unity with the ruling PDP) to Special Advisor positions within the Presidential Villa on October 7. As well, he released a list of eleven Ambassadorial appointments to the Senate for confirmation. Although the Villa has been very tight-lipped concerning the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle, an October 7 This Day article maintains one of the new ministers may be a sitting Northwest senator. Post provides details below on these appointments and some background information on the individuals involved. Although none of these appointments or nominations are as high-profiled or highly-contested as the ministerial nominations will be, there are some possibly troublesome appointments: one of which would remove the highly competent Secretary to the still-nascent Niger Delta Technical Advisory Committee and another of which would give former Delta Governor James Ibori yet another job in the administration for a member of his network. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On October 7, President Yar'Adua appointed three All Nigerian Peoples' Party (ANPP) members to his senior staff. Senator and National Secretary of the ANPP Saidu Kumo was appointed Special Advisor on Inter-Party Affairs, ANPP Deputy National Chairman (for the South) Prince Ebutta Ayuk was appointed Special Advisor on Non-Governmental Affairs, and Chineme Ume-Ezeoke (son of ANPP National Chairman Edwin Ume-Ezeoke) was appointed Special Advisor on Civil Organizations. -- Saidu Kumo is the National Secretary of the ANPP since 2006 and served as an ANPP Senator representing Gombe State from 1999 to 2003. Kumo was a strong advocate of the Government of National Unity from within the ANPP and was accused by ANPP Presidential Candidate Mohammadu Buhari of working with the PDP to destroy the ANPP. -- Prince Ebutta Ayuk is the Deputy National Chairman of the ANPP for the South. He has been active in the Government of National Unity, particularly in working to attract smaller parties into the coalition. -- Chineme Ume-Ezeoke is the eldest son of Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, current National Chairman of the ANPP and Buhari's running mate in the 2007 elections. He is a newcomer in politics and his appiontment is believed to be a reward to his father for his support of Yar'Adua and the Government of National Unity. (NOTE: Edwin Ume-Ezeoke distanced himself from Buhari following the announcement of Yar'Adua's victory and has withdrawn his participation in Buhari's election petition.) ¶3. (C) An October 7 This Day article cited a source as saying that one of the new ministerial nominees is a serving senator from the northwest geopolitical zone. The article went on to claim that the senator is a vice chairman of a standing committee, was instrumental in the appointment of the current minister from his state, was once a state governor, and is close to Yar'Adua. Post has identified four senators who meet these criteria: Saminu Taraki of Jigawa State, Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State, Tanko Ayuba of Kaduna State and Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State. We consider Taraki and Sani the most likely candidates of the four. -- Saminu Taraki is a close associate of former Delta Governor James Ibori and, by extension, Yar'Adua. In the Senate, he has been raising the idea of amending the constitution to elongate the term of the President to seven years from the current four. On July 13, 2007 Taraki was arraigned before an Abuja court by the Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly ABUJA 00001986 002 OF 002 embezzling 36 billion Naira (approximately $30.5 million) while serving as Governor. -- Ahmed Sani is the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State. He is an ANPP Senator and close to Yar'Adua as well as the Senate leadership. Sani was instrumental in orchestrating the ANPP's cooperation with the Government of National Unity, and there are rumors he may decamp to the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). He was verbally accused of corruption by the Ribadu-led EFCC shortly before he left office in 2007; however, he has never been arraigned in court. ¶4. (C) On October 7, the Yar'Adua administration sent a list of eleven ambassadorial nominations to the Senate for confirmation. In keeping with standard practice, the list contains only the names, and not the postings to which the nominees will be assigned. Included on the list are Nkoyo Toyo (Secretary to the newly-formed Niger Delta Technical Advisory Committee and PDP member from Cross River State), Ambassador Aminu Wali (former Ambassador to the United Nations from 2003 to 2007 and a leading member of the PDP from Kano State),and Ambassador Ghali Umar (a career ambassador in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Kano State and current State Chief of Protocol at the Presidential Villa). Other nominees included: H. Abdullahi (Niger State), ¶L. Bature (Katsina State),L.O. Akindele (Oyo State),Samuel Folorunsho Aiyedona (Lagos State),R.O. Eze (Enugu State), Lawrence Nwuruku (Ebonyi State, and a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission),Isaac Onuh (Kogi State),and Adamu Daura (Katsina State). ¶5. (C) Comment. Although none of this gets us any closer to the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle, it does at least portend some movement within the Presidential Villa. Whether it is enough to satisfy the calls to announce the Cabinet reshuffle (and at least give the impression of movement within the glacial Yar'Adua administration),at least for a few days, is hard to say. There are, in any case, some potentially troublesome appointments even on this smaller and less highly-contested list. The possible reassignment of Nkoyo Toyo, whom post has found to be very competent and responsive, within weeks of establishing the Niger Delta Technical Advisory Committee is poor planning at best and potentially damaging to the work of the Committee at worst. As well, if the senator rumored to be on the list of ministers is, as we suspect, Turaki, then former Delta Governor James Ibori will have scored yet another placement in the upper ranks of Yar'Adua's administration. End comment. This cable coordinated with Consulate Lagos. Piascik