LOCAL DEMOCRACY, NIGERIAN STYLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000401

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018
TAGS: PGOV KDEM NI
SUBJECT: LOCAL DEMOCRACY, NIGERIAN STYLE

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


1. (C) Embassy's FSN Political Specialist, who is a member of
the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP),recently
attempted to take part in a local PDP congress in his home
town. Such congresses were, on paper, supposed to take place
across the country before February 21 to select delegates to
attend February 28 state congresses, which, in turn were
supposed to choose attendees at the party's March 8 national
congress. His experience, recounted below, is instructive as
to how things actually work in what styles itself as Africa's
largest democratic political party.


2. (SBU) Begin text: "Out of curiosity, last week I decided
to exercise my franchise as a registered member of the PDP
and attend the Ward congress. The PDP national office had
asked its state chapters to conduct congresses at the various
levels: Ward, local and state levels. The exercise will
eventually terminate at the national level congress on March
8 with the emergence of new party officers.

"Upon reaching my Ward in Sabon Gari, Zaria last weekend, I
inquired about preparations for the congress that was
expected to be held on Saturday (February 16),but no one
seemed to have any idea. Next: I went to the party office
but the office was closed. When eventually I ran into one of
the PDP bigwigs in my Ward, he laughed when I asked him about
the PDP congress. Instead of giving me an answer, he
jokingly asked me which of the congresses I was referring to:
local government, state or national congress? I insisted on
Ward congress. He bursts into another round of mischievous
laughter, and this time around, others around him also
joined. At the end, he smiled at me and said: 'Don't worry,
we have conducted the congress on your behalf to save your
time and energy!'

"I was later informed the stakeholders (meaning coterie of
local PDP top brass) in the local government had already
picked the party officials at the ward and local government
levels and, typical of PDP machinery, the consent of other
party members like me was not needed to okay such an
important party decision. It is important to recall that I
have never been invited for any meeting of the party that
requires debate or inputs from members. The only invitation
I received was during a local fund raising dinner to kick-off
the party campaign towards the 2007 general elections.

"This scenario is a sample of what the PDP congresses looked
like in all the wards within the local government. Reports
from some states were not different from my ward where
'consensus' was reached by the stakeholders to produce party
officials and delegates to state and national congresses. In
some states like Delta, as 'consensus' was not arrived at by
the key players, the congress ended in a fiasco with
accusations and counter accusations by different camps."


3. (C) Comment: As the date for the PDP national congress
approaches, various factions of participants are coming
forward claiming to represent the forces of democracy within
the party. We think it important to remember that most of
those in the hall will, at best, have been selected in
processes like those in Zaria on February 16, or simply by
virtue of being a retainer of one of the PDP "Big Men." End
Comment.
SANDERS