NIGERIA: U.S.-UK COORDINATION MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001308

CONFIDENTIAL
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W, INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: U.S.-UK COORDINATION MEETING

REF: HC-Amb joint demarche in April, 2009, to Minister of the Niger
Delta

Classified By: Ambassador Robin Renee Sanders for reasons 1.4(b) and
(d)


1. (C) Summary. On July 17, 2009, the Ambassador and an interagency
team (DOD, USAID, RAO, POL, PD) met with their UK counterparts, led
by Charge d'Affaires Peter West to discuss opportunities for
increased U.S.-UK cooperation. The working group identified four
primary areas of shared interest: electoral reform and democracy
(good governance),military cooperation, the Niger Delta, and
anti-corruption. While the U.S. and UK are already working closely
on several development projects in Nigeria, the discussion led to
additional areas of potential cooperation which are highlighted
below. The U.S. Mission highlighted some of the analysis it has done
state-by-state and on our concern about the lack of movement on
electoral reform, which could lead to a repeat of poor elections in

2011. The Charge said they still need to do more internal
discussion, but in principal the UK agreed with the USG view on these
issues. End summary.

Electoral Reform/Democracy
--------------


2. (C) On electoral reform, the U.S. and UK political and development
messages are very much in sync and aimed at deepening democracy in
Nigeria. Going forward, both sides discussed the importance of when
it would be useful or propitious to be more public about concerns
over the 2011 elections. At this stage, however, discussions on
electoral reform at the UK Mission are internal where the USG in
Washington and in the field have begun to note the importance we
place on election reform as part of good governance. The UK side
said they have not lobbied London to take a more critical public
stance, partly because they did not assess that London is ready to do
so, noting that there is little parliamentary interest in Nigeria.
The U.S. team suggested Anambra's 2010 election as a good starting
point for monitoring collaboration as it is a likely precursor to the
2011 elections. The Brits said they would inform London about the
USG suggestion on Anambra as a way to show our joint concern on
electoral reform. This could also nudge their capital to start
reviewing its Nigeria election posture. They also signaled their
preference to involve the larger international community, such as the
EU, in our discussion on electoral reform. On the development side,
the U.S. and UK are already working very closely on civil society,
National Assembly, and political party strengthening, and would
continue to collaborate on training and capacity building in these
key areas.

Military Cooperation
--------------


3. (C) The U.S. and UK delegations identified several areas for
increased military cooperation. These include IT and infrastructure
support for Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) centers,
with the possibility of installing an additional RMAC system in
Calabar; training and technical assistance for the state-of-the-art,
UK-constructed Maritime Training Center in Lagos; technical support
for a joint geographic center in Abuja to help the Nigerian military
with hydrographic and geospatial mapping; data sharing and other
collaboration in a UK-proposed operations center (equivalent to a
U.S. fusion center); collaborating on Afican Contingency Operations
Training and Assistance (ACOTA),Joint Combined Exercise Training
(JCET),and Counterterrorism (CT) training; and providing
complementary support to the ECOWAS stand-by force. The Ambassador
also asked the DOD team whether a British sailor would be on board
the Africa Partnership Station (APS) ship scheduled to visit Lagos in
the coming months.

Niger Delta
--------------

4. (C) On the Niger Delta, both sides agreed to continue sending
like-minded messages on the need for a comprehensive framework to
resolve the legitimate political and development needs of the region,
and to expand on the already strong development partnership. Both
sides identified areas to increase collaboration on health issues
HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, and in other development
areas such as youth empowerment and conflict resolution. The UK has
also been asked by the GON to provide assistance on amnesty,
specifically DDR programs, in light of recent events, and asked if
the U.S. was also engaged with the GON on this issue. The USG side
said that while the USG was not working directly with the GON on
amnesty issues, as we had concerns whether it would work outside of
an overall political framework to address the legitimate grievances
in the region. The USG team asked whether we should consider
suggesting to the GON to reconsider its hard-line stance on "no
outsiders" and consider a "best practices" strategy from other
international efforts to develop a broader political framework aimed
at addressing amnesty, DDR, and development issues impacting the
Niger Delta. The UK team agreed that this would be an effective
collaborative approach, and we both said we would send this
suggestion back to our capitals.

Anti-corruption Efforts
--------------

5. (C) The anti-corruption discussion immediately turned to issues
surrounding the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
where the UK, unlike the U.S., has been working with the
anti-corruption body at the working level and permitting its first
secretary to met with Chairperson Farida Waziri. While joint
projects with the EFCC are not likely at this stage, both sides saw
opportunities to work together on strengthening the courts. The
teams also agreed to collaborate on drug-related issues through the
Nigerian Drug and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA),with which the U.S.
already has a positive working relationship and the UK recently
signed an MOU. The UK group then raised the issue of visa sanctions,
saying the U.S. could greatly assist by preventing certain corrupt
officials from entering the U.S. that have already been barred from
entering the UK. While not explicitly stated, it was clear that the
UK team was referring to one case in particular, that involving
former Delta State Governor James Ibori and his associates. The
Charge said that the British Metropolitan Police (MET) already have
arrest warrants for Ibori and 7-10 of his associates to include other
politicians and government officials (Note: in an earlier engagement,
Charge West told the Ambassador that Yar'Adua Principal Secretary
David Edevbie is listed in the arrest warrant. End note). The
Ambassador said MET Police would need to collaborate directly with
FBI HQ on the law enforcement aspects of this case if we were to
begin a discussion on visa sanctions for those 7-10 individuals.


6. (C) Comment. The UK High Commission was clearly appreciative of
the opportunity to dialogue and identify areas of further
cooperation, but admitted they had more homework to do on what their
steps would be to address their concerns on electoral reform. They
expressed their readiness to share our ideas with London. We also
were surprised that they did not push us for greater cooperation on
nabbing James Ibori whose arrest has become somewhat of an obsession
in the High Commission. We know from previous interactions with our
UK colleagues that they do share our analytical views on electoral
reform and other issues, but it was apparent that they wanted to talk
more internally and make suggestions to London on this issue.


7. (C) All that being said, we consider this first working meeting
critical for strengthening our bilateral cooperation on the ground on
these four thematic issues. British Charge d'Affaires West seemed
eager to hold another follow-up meeting at the High Commission and we
agreed to hold these quarterly. We expect that we will have an even
fuller discussion in the next meeting as we approach the 2011
election, now due in 22 months. End comment.

SANDERS