NIGERIA: CABINET COMMMITTEE TO REPORT ON ELECTORAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000344 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA BAGHDAD FOR DMCCULLOUGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: CABINET COMMMITTEE TO REPORT ON ELECTORAL REFORM WHITE PAPER BY MARCH 4 REF: A. 08 ABUJA 2405 ¶B. ABUJA 10 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: A committee headed by Attorney General (AG) and Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa has been given until March 4 to prepare a report on the White Paper which an earlier committee had drawn up concerning the recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC - see ref A). The new committee will include, besides the AG, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Yahyale Ahmed, Cabinet Secretariat PermSec Hakeem Baba Ahmed, and other members of the Cabinet as needed. Aondoakaa and Information Minister Dora Akunyili told skeptical journalists February 25 that the preparation of yet another report was not an attempt to delay action on the ERC's recommendations, merely a desire by the GON to be thorough. Several opposition parties reacted strongly to reports that the government was considering delaying implementation of the ERC's recommendations until ¶2015. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On February 25, AG Aondoakaa and Information Minister Akunyili briefed journalists after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (a body which includes all the members of the Cabinet, the SGF, the National Security Advisor and a few other key officials). Aondoakaa said he, the SGF and the Cabinet PermSec had been tasked with drafting a report on the White Paper (an official GON policy document) which an earlier committee had prepared on the reform recommendations which the ERC submitted to the President in December (ref A). In response to journalists' insinuations that the GON was "foot-dragging," Akunyili insisted that the report would be ready in time to be presented to the President at the next Council meeting, March 4, and that the delay was only because the government "wants to be thorough." She promised that the full report would be made public at that time. (FYI: Neither the 319 page ERC report nor the White Paper have been released, though post has recently obtained a copy of the former. End FYI.) Aondoakaa added that he had asked for two weeks to prepare the report, but the President had insisted that it be done in one. ¶3. (SBU) Several opposition parties, as well as the umbrella Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, reacted strongly to hints reportedly from senior GON officials that the government might be planning to delay implementation of the ERC's recommendations until after the 2015 elections. Femi Gbajabiamila, Action Congress leader in the House of Representatives, said such a delay would be "unacceptable to us and every right-thinking member of the National Assembly." He called for the reforms to be instituted immediately, adding: "What rationale will the government have for choosing post-2015 as the time to implement the report of a panel that conducted its business in 2008?" All Nigeria Peoples Party Chairman Edwin Ume-Ezeoke reacted similarly, declaring that 2011, in time for the next elections, was the "ideal time" for the reforms to be in place. ¶4. (C) Comment: That the GON needed to do a report on a report on a report drew wry comments from NGO contacts as well as journalists. That the GON and ruling PDP are not in a hurry to enact electoral reform should surprise no one. The original ERC report (which we are still ploughing through) took 18 months to prepare, and includes a wish list of recommendations, most of which will require legislation, if not constitutional amendment. The Nigerian Constitution requires amendments to receive 2/3 votes in both houses of the National Assembly, and also endorsement by 2/3 of state assemblies, no easy task. If the government wants to delay electoral reform, all it needs to do is insist on pursuing all the reforms in the ERC report as a package. If, on the other hand, the GON wanted to show seriousness about electoral reform, there are many steps it could take which would require only executive action (e.g., force INEC ABUJA 00000344 002 OF 002 Chairman Iwu and his colleagues to resign, appoint new commissioners with some reputation for independence and integrity, make some effort to improve the quality of the electoral register, etc). End comment. ¶5. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos. SANDERS