Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ABUJA123
2010-01-29 16:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:
NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- JANUARY 29, 2010
how-toVZCZCXRO1710 OO RUEHPA DE RUEHUJA #0123/01 0291707 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O R 291658Z JAN 10 FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0116 INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0095 RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0039
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 000123
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON SOCI KPAO NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- JANUARY 29, 2010
REF: ABUJA 0105; ABUJA 0079
CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 000123
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON SOCI KPAO NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- JANUARY 29, 2010
REF: ABUJA 0105; ABUJA 0079
CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
1. (U) Mission Nigeria provides the following compilation of recent
political, economic, and social developments not reported
previously.
--------------
SUCCESSFUL RE-RUN ELECTION IN EDO STATE
--------------
2. (SBU) The Independent National Election Commission (INEC)
conducted a House of Assembly "re-run" election in the Etsako
Central Constituency of Edo State January 23, after which INEC
declared January 24 that the Action Congress (AC) candidate Johnson
Egwakhide was the winner. To date, none of the four participating
opposition parties has denounced the election or threatened to
challenge its outcome. David Ugolor, the head of a civil society
coalition that monitored the election, observed to Lagos Political
Specialist that the January 23 re-run election occurred peacefully
and in strict compliance with the electoral law. Shortly after the
election results were published, Edo State Governor Adams
Oshiomhole (AC) and ranking People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader
Michael Akhibge told journalists that the election re-run was free
and fair.
-------------- --
POLITICAL ASSASSINATION SUSPECTED IN OGUN STATE
-------------- --
3. (C) Ogun Police Commissioner Musa Daura told journalists January
27 that, according to preliminary investigations, the January 26
murder of Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate Dipo Dina
shared "some elements of robbery and assassination." Many
Nigerians, however, view Dina's death as politically-motivated.
For several months, a tense atmosphere has prevailed in Ogun State
because of disputes between Governor Gbenga Daniel and several
groups or individuals. A contact claimed to Lagos Political
Specialist January 28 that Governor Daniel probably had a hand in
Dina's death. Both men have been embroiled in political and legal
disputes over the April 2007 election. This contact also listed
several prominent opposition politicians who live outside the state
for fear of possible attacks from Governor Daniel, including former
Governor Segun Osoba (AC); prominent Ogun Chief Alaba Lawson, also
involved in a dispute with the Governor; and Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) gubernatorial
candidate whose petition against Governor Daniel's election
remained before the courts.
--------------
SHARIA COUNCIL SAYS WOMEN LEADERS PROHIBITED
--------------
4. (SBU) Highly-placed politicians in Kwara State have called for
the election of a female governor in the 2011 elections. According
to the media, State Coordinator Alhaji Tijani Edun, representing
the Kwara State branch of the Supreme Council for Sharia,
immediately replied that such a move ran counter to "the principle
of Islamic law that forbids female leadership in Islam." Edun
added that "any attempt by a female politician to rule the state
would spell doom where more than 80 percent of the population is
Muslim." He called for fervent prayers to salvage the state from
ABUJA 00000123 002 OF 004
such a fate, calling on Muslims to converge at the Yidi praying
ground in Illorin May 30, to pray.
--------------
ALLEGED HARASSMENT OF THE MEDIA IN KANO STATE
--------------
5. (SBU) General Manager Farouk Dalhatu of Kano's "Freedom Radio"
described to Public Affairs and Information Officers actions that
the government of Kano Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (ANPP) has taken
allegedly to obstruct or close down the FM station before the 2011
elections. Dalhatu believes these official actions, including a
public announcement to suspend all Kano government advertising on
the station, reflect a calculated decision by the Governor's party,
the ANPP, to control information leading up to the 2011 elections,
sure to be contested by the national ruling PDP. Other alleged
harassment includes the sending of letters maligning the station to
the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the police; linking
the station to the murder of a prominent Muslim cleric; the arrest
and detention of the station manager over the content of a news
broadcast; and an attack by members of the Governor's personal
staff on the family of a journalist who consulted with the station.
6. (C) Governor Shekarau denied the harassment allegations during a
January 21 meeting with the Ambassador, but he acknowledged that he
had communicated "concerns" over recent "immoral content that
bothered him" and he denied that his Government had tried to close
down the station. (See ref A for more details.) (N.B.: "Freedom
Radio" has broadcast U.S. Government interviews, translated into
Hausa, most recently by Secretary Clinton in August and Special
Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith in September.
END NOTE.)
--------------
HIV-AIDS UPDATE
--------------
7. (U) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
supports the provision of comprehensive care and treatment at
selected hospitals to address HIV-AIDS in six northern Nigeria
states: Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, and Niger. As a
result, Taraba State has reduced the incidence of HIV-AIDS from 6.1
to 5.2 percent among its population.
-------------- --------------
NIGERIA NAVY CAPTAIN PARTICIPATES IN HAITI RELIEF
-------------- --------------
8. (U) The Lagos Public Diplomacy Section hosted seven print media
and two television networks for a telephone interview January 26
with Nigerian Navy Captain A. A. Osinowo, currently serving as the
Deputy Commodore of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) aboard the
USS Gunston Hall. The U.S. Navy diverted the USS Gunston Hall from
West Africa to Haiti after the recent earthquake to help with
relief efforts. The interview with Captain Osinowo provided an
opportunity to highlight both U.S. relief efforts in Haiti and the
APS's humanitarian focus. To date, coverage have appeared on
Channels TV and in two local papers, with more expected during the
weekend.
ABUJA 00000123 003 OF 004
--------------
GLO UNDERSEA CABLE SUNK
--------------
9. (C) The undersea cable project for mobile telecom provider "Glo"
is in jeopardy. "Glo" had been partnering with Alcatel to lay the
cable from the United Kingdom to Portugal and to the West coast of
Africa to Nigeria as well as Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, and
Ghana. Recently, "Glo" has failed to make agreed-upon payments to
Alcatel, per ARM Capital Partners Managing Director Ted Manvitz
January 22. He descried the project as "dead in the water" due to
lack of payments. "MainOne" cable, planned to run from Portugal to
Nigeria, however, remains on schedule. "MainOne" has provided
evidence to ConGen Lagos Econoff of its payments from partner Tyco.
The cable for "MainOne" will arrive in Lagos around May 2010.
--------------
INEFFICIENT ELECTRICITY MANAGEMENT
--------------
10. (C) Managing Director James Doak and Chief Financial Officer
Robert Kremer of the U.S. power generation giant AES met with
Econoff January 26 to discuss electricity generation in Nigeria.
Doak said Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN),the power
authority in Nigeria, has dispersed power evenly over the national
grid, rather than creating "islands of stability" and expanding the
grid from those islands. Such actions have made the grid worse,
according to AES experts, by trying to disperse power evenly
throughout a weak grid system. If PHCN were to concentrate on
"islands" where the grid has strength, they could develop a system
of mini-grids. They said PHCN could develop such mini-grids
eventually into an effective national grid. Doak assumed that the
PHCN has decided on their dispersed method of distribution because
of pressure to provide power to as many people as possible. AES
generators have suffered from the PHCN decision because they have
become susceptible to broad fluctuations that wear down generators
faster than normal. If such activity continued, Doak and Kremer
warned, AES will leave Nigeria at the end of their current contract
in 2014 or they will simply run the generators into the ground
after 2014 (by when the generators will be paid off). If AES
officials left Nigeria, they said they would attempt to move their
power barges to Cameroon, if feasible.
--------------
HOUSE DELEGATION TO SAUDI GOING NOWHERE
--------------
11. (C) House of Representatives Minority Leader Mohammed Ali
Ndume, a member of a six-person delegation that planned to travel
to Saudi Arabia to verify President Yar'Adua's medical condition,
confirmed to PolOff January 27 that no one from the delegation has
even applied for visas. Ndume said no one has asked for his
passport, noting that House Speaker Demeji Bankole of the ruling
PDP, would have the final say on such travel. Such a trip would in
any event likely be futile, as First Lady Turai Yar'Adua has
severely restricted direct access to the ailing President. Based
on our contacts with Ndume and others, it appears the public
proposal to send a fact-finding team to Jeddah was basically
grandstanding.
ABUJA 00000123 004 OF 004
12. (U) Embassy Abuja and ConGen Lagos collaborated on this
telegram.
SANDERS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/PDPA, DRL, INR/AA
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON SOCI KPAO NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIAN NUGGETS -- JANUARY 29, 2010
REF: ABUJA 0105; ABUJA 0079
CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy
Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
1. (U) Mission Nigeria provides the following compilation of recent
political, economic, and social developments not reported
previously.
--------------
SUCCESSFUL RE-RUN ELECTION IN EDO STATE
--------------
2. (SBU) The Independent National Election Commission (INEC)
conducted a House of Assembly "re-run" election in the Etsako
Central Constituency of Edo State January 23, after which INEC
declared January 24 that the Action Congress (AC) candidate Johnson
Egwakhide was the winner. To date, none of the four participating
opposition parties has denounced the election or threatened to
challenge its outcome. David Ugolor, the head of a civil society
coalition that monitored the election, observed to Lagos Political
Specialist that the January 23 re-run election occurred peacefully
and in strict compliance with the electoral law. Shortly after the
election results were published, Edo State Governor Adams
Oshiomhole (AC) and ranking People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader
Michael Akhibge told journalists that the election re-run was free
and fair.
-------------- --
POLITICAL ASSASSINATION SUSPECTED IN OGUN STATE
-------------- --
3. (C) Ogun Police Commissioner Musa Daura told journalists January
27 that, according to preliminary investigations, the January 26
murder of Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate Dipo Dina
shared "some elements of robbery and assassination." Many
Nigerians, however, view Dina's death as politically-motivated.
For several months, a tense atmosphere has prevailed in Ogun State
because of disputes between Governor Gbenga Daniel and several
groups or individuals. A contact claimed to Lagos Political
Specialist January 28 that Governor Daniel probably had a hand in
Dina's death. Both men have been embroiled in political and legal
disputes over the April 2007 election. This contact also listed
several prominent opposition politicians who live outside the state
for fear of possible attacks from Governor Daniel, including former
Governor Segun Osoba (AC); prominent Ogun Chief Alaba Lawson, also
involved in a dispute with the Governor; and Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) gubernatorial
candidate whose petition against Governor Daniel's election
remained before the courts.
--------------
SHARIA COUNCIL SAYS WOMEN LEADERS PROHIBITED
--------------
4. (SBU) Highly-placed politicians in Kwara State have called for
the election of a female governor in the 2011 elections. According
to the media, State Coordinator Alhaji Tijani Edun, representing
the Kwara State branch of the Supreme Council for Sharia,
immediately replied that such a move ran counter to "the principle
of Islamic law that forbids female leadership in Islam." Edun
added that "any attempt by a female politician to rule the state
would spell doom where more than 80 percent of the population is
Muslim." He called for fervent prayers to salvage the state from
ABUJA 00000123 002 OF 004
such a fate, calling on Muslims to converge at the Yidi praying
ground in Illorin May 30, to pray.
--------------
ALLEGED HARASSMENT OF THE MEDIA IN KANO STATE
--------------
5. (SBU) General Manager Farouk Dalhatu of Kano's "Freedom Radio"
described to Public Affairs and Information Officers actions that
the government of Kano Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (ANPP) has taken
allegedly to obstruct or close down the FM station before the 2011
elections. Dalhatu believes these official actions, including a
public announcement to suspend all Kano government advertising on
the station, reflect a calculated decision by the Governor's party,
the ANPP, to control information leading up to the 2011 elections,
sure to be contested by the national ruling PDP. Other alleged
harassment includes the sending of letters maligning the station to
the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the police; linking
the station to the murder of a prominent Muslim cleric; the arrest
and detention of the station manager over the content of a news
broadcast; and an attack by members of the Governor's personal
staff on the family of a journalist who consulted with the station.
6. (C) Governor Shekarau denied the harassment allegations during a
January 21 meeting with the Ambassador, but he acknowledged that he
had communicated "concerns" over recent "immoral content that
bothered him" and he denied that his Government had tried to close
down the station. (See ref A for more details.) (N.B.: "Freedom
Radio" has broadcast U.S. Government interviews, translated into
Hausa, most recently by Secretary Clinton in August and Special
Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith in September.
END NOTE.)
--------------
HIV-AIDS UPDATE
--------------
7. (U) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
supports the provision of comprehensive care and treatment at
selected hospitals to address HIV-AIDS in six northern Nigeria
states: Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, and Niger. As a
result, Taraba State has reduced the incidence of HIV-AIDS from 6.1
to 5.2 percent among its population.
-------------- --------------
NIGERIA NAVY CAPTAIN PARTICIPATES IN HAITI RELIEF
-------------- --------------
8. (U) The Lagos Public Diplomacy Section hosted seven print media
and two television networks for a telephone interview January 26
with Nigerian Navy Captain A. A. Osinowo, currently serving as the
Deputy Commodore of the Africa Partnership Station (APS) aboard the
USS Gunston Hall. The U.S. Navy diverted the USS Gunston Hall from
West Africa to Haiti after the recent earthquake to help with
relief efforts. The interview with Captain Osinowo provided an
opportunity to highlight both U.S. relief efforts in Haiti and the
APS's humanitarian focus. To date, coverage have appeared on
Channels TV and in two local papers, with more expected during the
weekend.
ABUJA 00000123 003 OF 004
--------------
GLO UNDERSEA CABLE SUNK
--------------
9. (C) The undersea cable project for mobile telecom provider "Glo"
is in jeopardy. "Glo" had been partnering with Alcatel to lay the
cable from the United Kingdom to Portugal and to the West coast of
Africa to Nigeria as well as Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, and
Ghana. Recently, "Glo" has failed to make agreed-upon payments to
Alcatel, per ARM Capital Partners Managing Director Ted Manvitz
January 22. He descried the project as "dead in the water" due to
lack of payments. "MainOne" cable, planned to run from Portugal to
Nigeria, however, remains on schedule. "MainOne" has provided
evidence to ConGen Lagos Econoff of its payments from partner Tyco.
The cable for "MainOne" will arrive in Lagos around May 2010.
--------------
INEFFICIENT ELECTRICITY MANAGEMENT
--------------
10. (C) Managing Director James Doak and Chief Financial Officer
Robert Kremer of the U.S. power generation giant AES met with
Econoff January 26 to discuss electricity generation in Nigeria.
Doak said Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN),the power
authority in Nigeria, has dispersed power evenly over the national
grid, rather than creating "islands of stability" and expanding the
grid from those islands. Such actions have made the grid worse,
according to AES experts, by trying to disperse power evenly
throughout a weak grid system. If PHCN were to concentrate on
"islands" where the grid has strength, they could develop a system
of mini-grids. They said PHCN could develop such mini-grids
eventually into an effective national grid. Doak assumed that the
PHCN has decided on their dispersed method of distribution because
of pressure to provide power to as many people as possible. AES
generators have suffered from the PHCN decision because they have
become susceptible to broad fluctuations that wear down generators
faster than normal. If such activity continued, Doak and Kremer
warned, AES will leave Nigeria at the end of their current contract
in 2014 or they will simply run the generators into the ground
after 2014 (by when the generators will be paid off). If AES
officials left Nigeria, they said they would attempt to move their
power barges to Cameroon, if feasible.
--------------
HOUSE DELEGATION TO SAUDI GOING NOWHERE
--------------
11. (C) House of Representatives Minority Leader Mohammed Ali
Ndume, a member of a six-person delegation that planned to travel
to Saudi Arabia to verify President Yar'Adua's medical condition,
confirmed to PolOff January 27 that no one from the delegation has
even applied for visas. Ndume said no one has asked for his
passport, noting that House Speaker Demeji Bankole of the ruling
PDP, would have the final say on such travel. Such a trip would in
any event likely be futile, as First Lady Turai Yar'Adua has
severely restricted direct access to the ailing President. Based
on our contacts with Ndume and others, it appears the public
proposal to send a fact-finding team to Jeddah was basically
grandstanding.
ABUJA 00000123 004 OF 004
12. (U) Embassy Abuja and ConGen Lagos collaborated on this
telegram.
SANDERS