US embassy cable - 04ABUJA223

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PREL, NI 
SUBJECT:  Meeting with INEC National Chairman Guobadia 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR PUBLICATION ON THE 
INTERNET OR INTRANET 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Independent National Electoral 
Commission (INEC) Chairman Dr. Abel Guobadia believes 
that the upcoming Local Government Area elections will 
go well and that the National Assembly will release 
budgeted funds to INEC sooner this year, allowing for 
proper funding of programs.  The chairman again blamed 
INEC problems on funding and passed the buck on several 
issues to the State Independent Electoral Commissions. 
End Summary 
 
Relationship of INEC to SIEC 
---------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) Desk officer for Nigeria Dan Epstein, along 
with Pol/Econ Counselor Maxstadt, Poloff Werner, and 
Aidoff Wright, met with INEC Chairman Dr. Abel Guobadia 
on February 9.  Dr. Guobadia evaded questions about the 
upcoming Local Government Area (LGA) elections, saying 
they are managed by the State Independent Electoral 
Commissions (SIECs).  Guobadia said the National Voters 
Register had been completed before the April 2003 
general elections, and sent to the SIECs.  He mentioned 
that the SIECs had a potentially more serious problem 
with funding: while INEC receives funding directly from 
the Presidency, SIECs rely on funds passed by the 
Presidency to the governors, and each governor funds 
his state's SIEC as he sees fit.  In addition, Guobadia 
stated that the SIECs appoint and select all presiding 
officers, so INEC cannot be held accountable for their 
actions or training.  All that said, Guobadia expected 
the LGA elections to proceed fairly smoothly.  He said 
he could not comment on the recent elections in Niger 
and Sokoto States nor on the dispute over whether 
elections conducted in newly created LGAs in those 
states would stand.  He said newly created LGAs were a 
constitutional issue to be resolved by the presidency. 
We will report on all LGA elections after they are 
conducted on March 27. 
 
Election Tribunals 
------------------ 
 
3. (U) Guobadia seemed frustrated by the need for INEC 
to appear in every election tribunal case.  This has 
had a serious impact on INEC staffing and funds, and 
Guobadia estimated that 40 percent of all 1000 plus 
seats in the 2003 general elections had been 
challenged.  When asked about how INEC reconciled its 
non-partisan "honest broker" role with its role of 
defending cases in Nigeria's adversarial legal system, 
Guobadia was quick to state that INEC only presents 
documents and defends the announced results, not 
actions taken or not taken during the election.  85 
percent of tribunal cases were thrown out in the first 
round for technicalities, but he thought the Appeals 
Courts were moving beyond technicalities (in the cases 
that remain).  He stated that a handful of election 
results had been overturned, mainly due to candidate's 
not having the required qualifications.  Guobadia 
believed that most other cases would be resolved over 
the next three months.  The Buhari presidential 
tribunal, however, could go to the Supreme Court.  In 
the handful of overturned cases, by-elections have been 
ordered, but currently a party cannot field another 
candidate if the original candidate was disqualified by 
the election tribunal, although this is being 
challenged in court. 
 
Funding and Staffing Issues 
--------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Guobadia believed that the way to avoid problems 
in the 2007 elections revolved around receiving 
sufficient funding for INEC.  Guobadia said that INEC 
has already proposed its funding needs to the National 
Assembly, but still awaits confirmation.  The FY 2003 
budget allocation was more than 1 billion naira (about 
$7.4 million), but INEC has only received 250 million 
naira from the presidency to date.  While declaring his 
appreciation for USG funding for INEC's implementing 
partner, IFES, Guobadia asked that the USG do whatever 
it can to push funding from the GON.  He said that the 
funding delay in 2002 affected the start of voter 
registration, which then pushed back all other INEC 
initiatives for the 2003 elections.  He believed that 
legislators now understand the problems the lack of 
funds had caused and probably will not make the same 
mistakes in 2007. 
 
5. (U) Guobadia seemed unconcerned about staffing 
issues, even the controversial use of ad hoc staff in 
the running of elections.  He agreed that the recent by- 
election in Abuja went well without ad hoc staff, but 
said INEC would continue using ad hoc staff for future 
elections, and he expects to be able to train more of 
them better in time for the 2007 general elections. 
 
The Future 
---------- 
 
6. (U) Guobadia said INEC still has not started 
updating the national voter register, although they 
hope to have a computer database functional by mid- 
2004.  Guobadia hopes to integrate fingerprint matching 
in the database by 2007.  In addition to a more 
advanced voter register, Guobadia hoped to change the 
Electoral Law to allow absentee ballots. 
 
ANYASO