AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR CHANGE WITH NIGERIA'S NEW ATTORNEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000179 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/FO, AF/W, INL/FO, L/LEI, DRL, INR/AA AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/26 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PTER CJAN SNAR SOCI KCRM NI SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOR CHANGE WITH NIGERIA'S NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL CLASSIFIED BY: James P. McAnulty, Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy Abuja, Political Section; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Within 24 hours of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's designation as Acting President, Jonathan replaced controversial Attorney General and Minister of Justice Michael Aondoakaa with Minister of Labor and Productivity Adetokunbo Kayode on February ¶10. The Ambassador met with Kayode February 16 to brief him on U.S. interests with the Attorney General's Office, including improved anti-corruption efforts, better cooperation on law enforcement (particularly extradition),counter-terrorism, and aviation issues. The Ambassador also laid down strong markers for improving the electoral process. Kayode, well known by the U.S. Mission, responded positively on all counts, and agreed, almost promised, that Independent National Election Commission (INEC) Chairperson Maurice Iwu should not be allowed to remain in office past June 2010. We will monitor how well Kayode performs in his new position. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) After congratulating Kayode on his appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Ambassador clarified Nigeria's placement on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) watch list of "countries of interest," explaining that the U.S. had not listed Nigeria as a "state sponsor of terrorism," but rather as a "country of interest" for closer air travel security monitoring. She clarified that the U.S. did not discriminate against Nigerians, but rather used the TSA list to prevent immediate and future security threats. ¶3. (C) The Ambassador also informed Kayode that his Ministry's Senior Legal Counsel and TSA Attache Anthony Giovanniello reached tentative agreement in Lagos February 13 on the text of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Air Marshals program. She added that the two main changes involved a commitment by the U.S. to provide air marshals training and to replace the MOU with a legally enforceable agreement within the next six months. The State Department must now approve the text. Kayode agreed that, in principle, he sees nothing wrong with the Air Marshals program since "security is good for everyone." ¶4. (C) The Ambassador emphasized the importance of effective GON action against corruption and U.S. dissatisfaction with the inability of the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to secure meaningful convictions of Nigeria's worst offenders. She also pointed out INEC's ineffective leadership, explaining that the organization's biggest challenge involved lack of credibility. Using February 6 gubernatorial election in Anambra State as an example of INEC's most recent dismal performance, the Ambassador encouraged the Attorney General to ensure that INEC performed the technical and operational work necessary to make future elections credible. The Ambassador informed Kayode of the recent visit by the U.S.-United Kingdome (UK) Election Assessment Team and promised to forward its report to him. She offered U.S. technical assistance to help improve the voter registration list, a key problem for Nigeria's electoral system, and noted the selective technical assistance that the U.S. has provided to certain parts of the EFCC to improve capabilities and performance. ¶5. (C) Kayode responded with his appreciation for "robust U.S. involvement in democracy and good governance" in Nigeria." He assured the Ambassador that his Ministry's mandate would be to continue Yar'Adua's important reform goals, "but with more energy and vigor" than done by the prior Attorney General. Kayode informed the Ambassador that she will soon see that he is embarking on a new strategy committed to democracy, good governance, and anti-corruption. Addressing INEC's inefficiencies, Kayode said one ABUJA 00000179 002 OF 003 of his priorities would be to ensure the court system reacted quickly to INEC cases during elections, including charging members of INEC if they became involved in fraud. The Ambassador noted the USG view of INEC and its current chairperson, and that the USG would not provide electoral technical assistance if the current Chairperson remained on seat after the June 2010 expiry of his term. Kayode agreed; the INEC chairman should be changed, noting that he would be adding his voice to this effort. The Ambassador then briefed the new Minister on the recent visit by the U.S.-UK funded election assessment team, noting that a key recommendation involved beginning the search now for an Iwu replacement. Kayode noted that he believed efforts were already underway in this regard. The new Attorney General then segued into Nigeria's legislative process, which he cited as the reason for many of INEC's and EFCC's failures. He then requested U.S. technical support and pressure to help improve the situation. ¶6. (C) Noting the good working relationship that the U.S. maintains with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on its interdiction programs at airports, the Ambassador informed a surprised Kayode of ten outstanding extradition requests, some dating as far back as 2004, which the U.S. had been unable to secure from the Attorney General's Office. She warned Kayode that such egregious delays could negatively impact Nigeria's certification. Kayode promised to address U.S. requests and concerns, particularly on extraditions. He agreed with the Ambassador that extraditions should move forward and that Nigeria should comply with its extradition agreements and laws in a more responsible manner. Kayode requested that Mission Nigeria provide his staff with the details of the outstanding extraditions and agreed that follow up meetings on the subject were necessary between technical teams. ¶7. (C) Ambassador raised counter-terrorism issues, underscoring the need for Nigeria to do several key things, including admitting officially that terrorism is a possibility in Nigeria and that the country is not immune to outside links with extremists; and passing counter-terrorism legislation. Without these steps, she noted, it would be hard to address USG concerns. She added that the U.S. for several years had informed GON security services of these linkages and GON officials needed to take more seriously such information. Kayode took on board these points and said he would engage more on these issues and seek briefings from his security services. He also agreed to work with the National Assembly on passing the counter-terrorism legislation. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) Acting President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Kayode to his new position February 10, effectively ending Michael Aondoakaa's reign of corruption. Kayode is not part of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) inner circle, although he formed part of President Yar'Adua's legal team regarding challenges to the latter's 2007 election. So, his actual role or influence within the Jonathan administration remains as yet unclear. ¶9. (C) What is clear, however, is that as Minister of Labor and Productivity, Kayode performed ineffectively. He failed to negotiate sustainable and long term solutions to an unprecedented number of actual or threatened strikes since he gained appointment as Labor Minister in December 2008. His ineptitude as the government's chief labor negotiator during academic union strikes crippled public higher education for more than four months in 2009. And after Mission Nigeria spent close to a month of planning for an orientation visit to the U.S., we learned from one of Kayode's staff aides that he never showed up for his meetings at the ABUJA 00000179 003 OF 003 Department of Labor. Kayode's performance calls into question whether he can serve as a reliable partner, particularly on the issues the Ambassador presented to him during this introductory call. On the other hand, however, Kayode's appointment as Attorney General represents a sea-change from his predecessor -- a major improvement that may help Acting President Jonathan send the message that the corruption party has ended, if only for a short time serving out the rest of Yar'Adua's term. END COMMENT. SANDERS