US embassy cable - 04ABUJA572

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA'S NATIONAL ELECTIONS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
AREAS 
 
REF: ABUJA 519 
 
CLASSIFIED BY COUNSELOR JAMES MAXSTADT FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND 
D. 
 
1. (C)  Summary:  Nigeria held its long-postponed (reftel) 
national round of Local Government Area (LGA) elections March 
27.  Overwhelmingly, whatever party ruled the state 
government also won the LGA elections in each state, not 
surprising as the "State Independent Electoral Commissions" 
(SIECs) are normally appointed by the state governors.  Voter 
turnout averaged 15-20 percent in places where the elections 
were held.  The preliminary report of Nigeria's NGO 
Transition Monitoring Group declared the LGA elections were 
fraught with massive fraud, and post expects there will be 
hundreds of suits in election tribunals.  Around 50 people 
died in less violence than many Nigerians expected, scattered 
across the country.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) LGA elections were held March 27 in most parts of 
Nigeria.  The LGA elections were canceled in some states and 
some parts of other states, and the ruling PDP boycotted the 
elections in Zamfara and Lagos while the opposition AD did 
same in some parts of the Southwest.  In addition to a 
shortage of and late arrival of election materials, the 
absence of an updated National Voter Register as required by 
law, and virtually no voter education, the LGA elections were 
marked by "irregularities."  There were areas where the 
elections were not held but results were manufactured and 
"winners" declared.  An opinion poll conducted by a 
Lagos-based influential Nigerian newspaper, the Guardian, 
showed that 91 percent of Nigerians believed the elections 
were not conducted in a free and fair manner. 
 
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VOTING IRREGULARITIES 
--------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) Virtually every voting irregularity known to 
democracies seemed to have been used in various places; SIECs 
barring most/all opposition candidates from running, ballot 
stuffing, voter intimidation, shortage of electoral 
materials, absurdly high nomination fees in many places, 
changed time/place of voting, false declaration of actual 
winners, and using party members to run the elections as SIEC 
staff were the most prevalent.  The main difference between 
states seemed to be how much the ruling party in each was 
willing to leave to its opposition. 
 
4. (U) In Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Kebbi, Zamfara, Bauchi, Benue, 
Ekiti, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states, the ruling parties 
captured all the LGA chairman seats and left only a few 
councillorships under them for the opposition.  All parties 
seemed equally guilty.  In Ogun, the PDP won all 20 
chairmanship seats and took 230 councillorship positions to a 
paltry 4 for the ANPP.  In Zamfara, ANPP candidates won all 
the chairman slots and left only one councillorship to APGA. 
In Lagos, AD managed to stop its in-fighting long enough to 
present lists of candidates, the PDP boycotted, and AD Lagos 
Governor Tinubu inducted 57 AD LGA chairmen -- including 37 
from newly created LGAs -- on March 30.  In other states like 
Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and Borno, opposition parties were 
allowed to win a handful of chairman seats.  In the Federal 
Capital Territory (FCT), which is not a state, the LGA 
election was run by the "Independent National Electoral 
Commission" and PDP and ANPP each won three chairman seats. 
 
5. (SBU) Katsina state may take the prize for originality. 
With LGA elections so long postponed, state governments have 
long appointed civil servants to be "Caretaker" LGA Chairmen. 
 As in the U.S., Nigerian law says civil servants must resign 
before running for election so they cannot use their 
bureaucracy to be elected to a post supervising that 
bureaucracy.  Just before the election, Katsina passed a law 
allowing its civil-servant Caretakers an exception to having 
to resign one month before the election, and those who ran 
did not resign at all.  Needless to say, the civil service 
Caretakers won.  Needless to say, suits against their 
elections are on the way. 
 
6. (U) The opposition umbrella Coalition of National 
Political Parties (CNPP) described the elections as "worse 
than 2003 general elections."  In a statement released 
shortly after the elections, CNPP Secretary Maxi Okwu said, 
"every strategy was employed to foreclose the elections in 
favor of ruling party candidates. These ranged from giving a 
head start to these candidates being appointed caretaker 
committee chairmen, prohibition and extortionist nomination 
administrative fees for candidates ranging to N250,000 and 
N100,000 (almost 2000 and 800 USD, far more than the yearly 
salary for the positions) for chairmanship and councillorship 
respectively, programmed tax clearance requirement demand of 
letters of identification from district heads; mass 
disqualification of opposition party candidates without 
reasons." 
 
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LOW TURNOUT 
----------- 
 
7. (SBU) In most places where there was an election, voter 
apathy kept turnout very low.  Most observers believe the 
turnout ranged between 15-20 percent, although the official 
returns put turnout as high as 40-70 percent in some places. 
One refrain was often heard: "Why do we have to dissipate our 
time and energy when the winners have already been decided?" 
The opposition Conference of Nigerian Political Parties 
(CNPP) put it a different way, "By shunning the elections and 
staying put at home an overwhelming majority of Nigerians 
have passed a vote of no confidence on our electoral system 
and its managers." 
8. (SBU) Like most places in Nigeria, Lagos State government 
directed that movement would be restricted during voting. 
LEGATT drove around and observed very few voters at the 
polling stations during the 7am-5pm voting hours.  The most 
he saw were five at one station.  A contact at the British 
Deputy High Commission told a Consulate employee that at one 
station where 1500 persons were registered, only 17 had 
actually shown up to vote.  . 
 
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VIOLENCE 
-------- 
 
9. (SBU) Election-related violence was reported in most 
regions of the country, even though the LGA elections were 
canceled in places the authorities described as "having 
unfavorable security reports."  The violence in most places 
was scattered and low-intensity, possibly due to the same 
voter apathy, although there were some larger-scale clashes 
in some places.  Violence in Katsina state's Karadua town 
claimed at least 70 houses plus vehicles, motorcycles and 
other property.  PDP supporters reportedly stormed the town 
on the eve of the elections carrying dangerous weapons and 
chanting "We control the government, so we must win," and 
attacked the residence of an ANPP candidate.  ANPP supporters 
counterattacked.  Earlier, on March 22, suspected PDP thugs 
at Batsari town in Katsina State had attacked the convoy of 
ANPP Presidential Candidate Muhammadu Buhari.  No one was 
killed but scores of people were wounded. 
 
10. (SBU) Elections results were suspended in Wukari, Takum 
and Ussa LGAs of Taraba state due to violence.  Sources said 
that at least 2 people died while many houses were burnt in 
Wukari in protests that SIEC officials there had pronounced 
the PDP a winner after the vote totals suggested an 
opposition NDP candidate had won by a large majority.  The 
incident renewed hostilities between the Jukun and Tiv ethnic 
groups even though both the candidates were Jukuns.  It seems 
the Jukun NDP candidate was also backed by Tivs, Hausa/Fulani 
and young Jukuns.  Authorities in neighboring Benue state had 
to rely on federal soldiers from Makurdi and Takum to restore 
order in seven Benue LGAs.  Tiv militia killed five and 
injured many more in Kwande and Ukum, and in Zaki Biam armed 
youths numbering about 40 killed one man for "trying to 
challenge their order," while a stray bullet reportedly 
wounded Benue State Lands Commmissioner Titus Madugu. 
Madugu's driver and police bodyguard were killed. 
 
11. (U) Conflicts leading to loss of lives and property were 
reported at Owan and Esan East of Edo State.  At Iruekpen, 
Nigerian First Lady Stella Obasanjo's hometown, supporters of 
PDP and ANPP had a bloody clash killing at least 2 people 
while setting ablaze many private homes.  According to a 
journalist who monitored events "party thugs in mobile police 
uniform and others with uniforms of neighborhood watch (a 
government-sponsored group) paraded double-barreled and 
pump-action guns and fired indiscriminately." 
 
12. (U) One student at Lagos State University (LASU) was 
killed in a demonstration at the Epe LGA offices.  LASU 
students were protesting the defeat of a fellow student, who 
had run for LGA Chairman, and at first said that the deceased 
had been shot by police.  An official examination of the 
corpse showed he had been stabbed with a sharp instrument. 
 
13. (SBU) There were press reports that armed thugs halted 
the release of election results in Delta State, but the Delta 
State Commissioner for Foreign Relations, his Special 
Assistant and the Director of the Delta State Tourism Board 
told the Consul General and Pol/Econ officers that the 
elections had transpired "peacefully."  We have been unable 
to verify reports of ten houses being burned in Ondo and 
killings in Enugu and Oyo through police contacts. 
 
14. (U) Hundreds of ANPP supporters blocked major roads and 
set bonfires in Zaria, north of Kaduna, to protest the 
declaration of a PDP winner of the LGA chairmanship election, 
claiming that their figures showed the ANPP candidate clearly 
won.  Two people were reportedly killed while scores of party 
supporters were injured on Saturday following a clash between 
PDP and ANPP supporters at Jema'a and Bomo villages. 
Elections were suspended in Soba, Kaduna North and Ikara 
Local Governments. 
 
15. (U) The same effect worked in the far fewer states where 
opposition party governors reign.  PDP supporters in 
Maguemeri of Borno state attacked and burnt state government 
buildings and vehicles, protesting that the ANPP-controlled 
state government had snatched away their "hard earned 
victory." 
ROBERTS