US embassy cable - 03ABUJA2158

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 002158 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF, FOR DRL, FOR AFR/WA, DCHA/DG 
PASS TO USAID ADM AIDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PHUM, NI 
SUBJECT:  NIGERIA'S INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL 
COMMISSION CONVENES TWO-DAY SEMINAR WITH STAKEHOLDERS 
 
 
1.  Summary:  Nigeria's National Electoral Commission 
(INEC) conducted a widely-publicized INEC-Civil Society 
Forum on November 27-28, 2003, the first of its kind, to 
elicit input on the direction of electoral reform leading 
up to the country's next Presidential and National Assembly 
elections, scheduled for early 2007.  The President of the 
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo gave an 
important keynote address on election reform issues 
(septel), and other important members of the Government -- 
including many INEC Commissioners -- participated. 
Nigerian civil society was rather less represented, 5 of 18 
presenters, and 3 of those were lawyers commenting on the 
judiciary.  Three non-Nigerian consultants and INEC gave 
presentations, and there were no scheduled presenters from 
Nigeria's opposition parties in the opening session, even 
though 22 parties were represented during a reserved 
period, 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm, on the first day. 
 
2. Participants at the seminar expressed concerns about 
INEC's lack of independence from the Federal Government, 
and recommended that steps be taken to ensure that INEC 
functions with expected levels of integrity, competency, 
and neutrality.  The seminar observed that State 
Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) also needed to 
break free from the political dictates of State 
Governments, and recommended that provisions to ensure 
financial and political independence be put in place.  The 
seminar noted that credible political competition between 
and among political parties required the existence of 
minimum operational standards, and recommended that INEC 
and the political parties engage in constructive 
discussions to specify their expectations of each other's 
conduct and responsibilities.  Finally, the seminar noted 
that failure to conduct local government elections since 
June 2002 impaired Nigerians' constitutional right to live 
under democratically-elected governments at all levels, and 
recommended that funds be allocated to conduct local 
government elections on or before March 31, 2004. End 
Summary 
 
3.  On November 27-28, 2003, Nigeria's Independent National 
Electoral Commission (INEC) held "The INEC-Civil Society 
Forum Seminar on Agenda for Electoral Reform" at its Media 
Results Center in Abuja.  The Seminar's opening session 
drew a high-level and diverse audience from political 
parties, State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), 
civil society, as well at the international diplomatic and 
donor community, for presentations by INEC Chairman Sir 
Abel Guobadia, Transitional Monitoring Group (TMG) Chairman 
Festus Okoye, and Nigeria's President, Olusegun Obasanjo. 
 
4.  Reflecting upon the nation's recent electoral 
experience (April/May 2003), INEC's Chairman noted that 
reforms would be necessary for INEC to improve upon it 
performance in 2003.  First, the Chairman suggested that 
there was need for a constitutional provision establishing 
INEC's independence from the Executive branch. The Chairman 
noted further that INEC's independence required that its 
operational funding come from the Federation's Consolidated 
Revenue fund, not the GON budget.  The Chairman suggested 
that voter education activities needed to be placed 
directly under INEC's control, and that continuous voter 
registration procedures needed to be put in place. 
 
5. In response to earlier proposals (reftel), the Chairman 
pointed to a need to regulate political parties, not only 
at the point of registration, but also during the course of 
election campaigns. There was a need to stagger elections, 
so that all public offices were not being contested at the 
same time every four years, and a further need to move away 
from manual voting to mechanized procedures.  Finally, the 
Chairman argued that steps were needed to improve the 
competence of returning officers, who were tasked with 
declaring results to the electorate. 
 
6.  The Transition Monitoring Group's (TMG) Chairman, 
Festus Okoye, speaking on behalf of the civil society 
organizations at the seminar, remarked that for democracy 
to survive in Nigeria until 2007, the problems seen in the 
nation's 1999 and 2003 elections needed to be addressed. 
Echoing the Chairman's earlier sentiments, Mr. Okoye noted 
that INEC needed to be fully independent and unfettered in 
its structure, operations and funding, and that voter 
registration and identification procedures needed to be 
improved to preclude under-age and "ghost" voting.  Mr. 
Okoye also highlighted the need to improve voter education, 
ensure consistency and quality control over information, so 
that voters understood what was expected from them. 
 
7. President Obasanjo began his keynote address by 
commending the spirit of constructive cooperation between 
and among INEC, civil society and political parties in 
working to achieve a higher level of quality in Nigeria's 
electoral practices in the workshop.  The President noted 
that it was a national priority to address flaws in the 
current system well before the 2007 elections, and that 
such an important task needed the support and input of all 
stakeholders, not just INEC or government alone. 
 
8. President Obasanjo reflected critically upon Nigeria's 
first-past-the-post electoral system, which to him, 
" educes all political activity to the sole objective of 
winning elections nd olarize(s) our people and 
politicians around who wins and who loses".  The President 
looked critically at the cost of elections, noting that the 
N50 billion (approx. USD 35 million) spent on the last 
election was "unacceptably high", and asked rhetorically if 
the will of the people could find expression in the face of 
so much money.  The President lauded the role that 
political parties played in elections, but stressed that 
they must "operate responsibly to aggregate, articulate and 
represent citizens' concerns."  President Obasanjo argued 
further that "parties which exist only to collect grants 
from government, or fail to submit to the basic demands for 
accountability and transparence, or who fail to achieve an 
acceptable minimum of impact during elections must be) e- 
registered where necessary".  The President noted his 
support for greater INEC and SIEC independence, provided 
they were able to operate with integrity and competence 
within practical financial resource perimeters. The 
President expressed concerns over the mushrooming number of 
election disputes (note: 900 of 1,600 election results were 
contested in 2003), as well as the length of time involved 
in processing such disputes.  In closing the President 
noted that while Nigeria's elections needed to be open to 
international scrutiny, it was necessary to encourage and 
empower local observer groups, who, according to him, have 
a higher stake in election outcomes, and are better 
acquainted with Nigeria's history, its cultures, and the 
practical realities of the current situation. 
 
9.  Subsequent Day One sessions addressed "Best Practices 
in Legislating Electoral Reform", dealing with existing 
electoral system models in operational around the world; "A 
Critique of the Nigerian Electoral System and Analysis of 
Options", examining the shortcomings of Nigeria's first- 
past-the-post electoral system; and, "What Cost, 
Democracy?", a session examining issues related to election 
funding, campaign finance, and the relationship between 
politics and corruption.  The day closed with an open forum 
where each of the participating political parties was given 
an opportunity to comment on its recent elections 
experiences and make suggestions for improving the process 
in advance of the 2007 elections. 
 
10.  Day Two's presentations began with an examination of 
electoral reform from the perspectives of civil society, 
National and State Electoral Commissions, and covered 
issues related to independence, Commission funding, 
constituency delimitation, voter education and 
registration, registration and management of political 
parties, campaign finance, results management (tabulation 
and reporting), and the adjudication of election disputes. 
The follow-on session examined the roles played by the 
executive and legislative branches in facilitating and 
enacting key electoral reforms, and then the judiciary's 
role in settling election disputes. 
 
11.  Following a presentation on improving electoral access 
for citizens with disabilities, a limited plenary session 
afforded all participants a final opportunity to express 
opinions on the issues raised during the seminar, or those 
not adequately covered during the seminar's formal 
proceedings.  Following this session, a statement, covering 
the seminar's main observations and recommendations, was 
distributed and discussed.  The seminar concluded with a 
call for further meetings of this type to be held in each 
of the country's six geo-political zones. 
 
12.  Comment:  The seminar was well-attended and the 
presence of INEC Commissioners throughout ensured that key 
stakeholder views were heard firsthand, unedited and 
unabashed.  While a formal summary of the seminar's 
proceedings will be submitted to INEC in due course, the 
tone of urgency reverberating in many participants' 
interventions is unlikely to be captured therein.  Clearly, 
stakeholders recognized the shortcomings of the 2003 
elections and many had positive and constructive 
suggestions for improving the process in advance of the 
2007 elections.  The proceeding's comportment bespeaks a 
broad-based and inclusive approach to policy reform in 
Nigeria, as well as a willingness to work across regional, 
ethic, gender and political party lines to achieve a common 
objective.  Above all, seminar participants uniformly 
expressed enthusiastic commitment to democracy, eschewing 
the country's historical preferences for predictable 
authoritarian regimes. One of the seminar's presenters 
asked if democracy should precede development, or vice 
versa.  The response from the floor, which received a loud 
round of applause, was that development without democracy 
could hardly be characterized as development, at all. 
 
MEECE