NIGERIA: AMBASSADOR MEETS CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS AT EKITI

UNCLAS LAGOS 000309 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: AMBASSADOR MEETS CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS AT EKITI ROUNDTABLE ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On July 6, the Ambassador participated in a roundtable on Democracy and Electoral Reform in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, hosted by the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD) and attended by three other civil society organization (CSO) partners. The roundtable was in part held in reaction to the April Ekiti gubernatorial election re-runs. The NISD Director was the U.S. Mission's 2007 DHRF recipient. At the session, the Ambassador stressed the need for the Ekiti CSOs to collaborate towards the goal of electoral reform, and recognized the important role they play in shining the light on problems in the Ekiti re-runs. The group highlighted how committed voters were to a free process and how seriously they monitored the election. Several key themes emerged during the discussion: the need for a truly independent INEC; accurate voter registration; educating the electorate; and security issues. Ambassador reiterated the importance of the monitoring role of CSOs and encouraged them to continue the good work, and offered the support of the U.S. Mission to meet that objective. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On July 6, the Ambassador participated in a roundtable on Democracy and Electoral Reform in Ado-Ekiti, hosted by the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD) and attended by three other civil society organizations (CSO): Mr. Akingbade Emmanuel and Ms. Osho A.O. of Justice Development and Peace Center (JDPC),Mr. Tunde Asebieko of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR),Mr. Fumso Adedeyi of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC). The Executive Director of NISD, Mr. Abiodun Oyeleye, called the Ekiti April 2009 elections, "the worst election in the history of Nigeria." Ambassador told the participants that Nigerians must be in the lead and the U.S. Mission will work to support CSOs and their partner organizations to initiate positive change towards electoral reform in Nigeria. During the roundtable, several key themes were discussed by the participants: the need for a truly independent INEC; accurate voter registration; educating the electorate; and security issues. Ambassador offered her thoughts from a U.S. Mission perspective on each theme and reiterated the Mission's support to each issue in the general democratic message of good governance and free and fair elections. We Need a Truly Independent INEC -------------- ¶3. (SBU) After opening remarks highlighting the importance of civil society and congratulating NISD for their award of the 2007 Democracy and Human Rights Fund, Ambassador requested the participants offer their thoughts on the challenges they face in Ekiti to holding free and fair elections. The first issue raised was the need for a truly independent INEC. The JDPC representative, Mr. Emmanuel, stated while it was positive to see citizens involved in the struggle to protect their votes by keeping watch at the polls, their efforts did not bring about the desired change due to a biased INEC interfering in the election. Mr. Emmanuel said he supports a review of the Constitution because as it stands today, INEC is not independent, agreeing with the Uwais Report on selecting the INEC chairman independently. Other participants agreed with Mr. Emmanuel, stating that fundamental changes such as appointment, tenure, and funding of INEC are required, however, they also said that amending the Constitution might be difficult and they should look at more near-term solutions for immediate impact, while pushing for INEC reform in the long-term. Voter Registration Process Flawed, Manipulated -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) Another challenge to free and fair elections discussed by the participants was the manipulation of voter registration records. Mr. Emmanuel of JDPC stated that electoral fraud starts at voter registration and the concept of 'one man, one vote' is lost in Ekiti. In response to Ambassador's questions on how CSOs would monitor voter registration, Mr. Asebieko of CDHR stated the futility of attempting to address voter registration until the issue of an independent INEC is addressed. Mr. Asebieko stated that the voter registration centers run by INEC allow individuals to purchase as many registration cards as desired, registering as many fictitious, and often times, deceased people as they had the money or influence to do. Registering by proxy was cited as a major obstacle to electoral reform. All participants agreed that the voter register must be updated, since the old one, which was used in the recent elections, was outdated. The old voter register prevented many youth who are now of voting age from participating in the recent gubernatorial election. The participants stated that there are inherent motivators to artificially increase voter registration counts, and until those are also addressed, the problem will continue. According to Mr. Asebieko, many villages purposely inflate voter registration counts which positively correlate to increased appointments and benefits received for the villages. Traditional rulers have little incentive to reform the voter registration process if their benefits and appointments are in jeopardy. Educating the Electorate about Fraud -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Mr. Asebieko of CDHR stressed the importance of educating the electorate of Ekiti state through the efforts of non-governmental organizations. Ambassador asked the participants how they intend to reach villages and remote areas of the state with their message of reform, and Mr. Asebieko used an example of communicating to villagers regarding electoral reform in their own dialects. He stated that during the last election, falsehoods such as paying increased taxes if a citizen goes to the polls, kept many people away, particularly from village areas. If the villagers were educated early in the process of voting and election monitoring, the participants believe that they would not be susceptible to such myths. The participants also stated the need for seminars and workshops in villagers' own dialects, as well as television dramas, which will have a tremendous impact. In addition, the participants recommended 'train the trainer' programs, where influential village elders and youth leaders would be educated on voting and election monitoring. Educating and empowering youth was cited by all participants as vital to electoral reform. Violence, Intimidation Keep Voters Away -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Intimidation of specific segments of the electorate was a major issue in the re-runs, according to Mr. Adedeyi of WARDC. He stated that police intimidation of the electorate in support of the Action Congress (AC) candidate was widespread across several of the wards. Many voters never showed at the polls due to successful scare tactics employed by the police and other heavily armed security groups, according to Mr. Adedeyi. He cited specific examples of unprovoked violence and bullying in is organization's publication, "Ballots and Bayonet - Unfulfilled Hopes of Ekiti Re-Run Elections 2009," distributed to all the participants of the roundtable. The booklet contains specific examples of vehicle registration numbers of police and army vehicles used in violent incidents. Ambassador: Local CSOs Need to Take Ownership of Change -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Ambassador acknowledged the variety of challenges facing CSOs in Ekiti and reiterated the U.S. Mission's supporting role in the process and stated that the Nigerian CSOs are the owners of the change they desire. Ambassador pledged to ensure that the Ekiti CSOs were involved in the U.S. Mission's programs on electoral reform and democracy, as well as furnish them with materials on utilizing new media tools effectively for voter awareness. Participants expressed appreciation for the U.S. Mission's involvement in the roundtable, goodwill of the Ambassador, and the continued offer of assistance towards reaching their objectives. ¶8. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Abuja.