US embassy cable - 04ABUJA764

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000764 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, NI 
SUBJECT: MINISTERIAL CORRPUTION TRIAL: NOISE, NOT ACTION 
 
REF: ABUJA 35 
 
CLASSIFIED BY ACTING DCM DEAN WOODEN FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND D. 
 
1. (C) Summary: Intrigues and suspicion -- but little action 
-- surround the snail-paced trial of former Nigerian 
ministers and other senior officials accused of receiving 
payoffs from a French company to facilitate winning of a 
multi-million dollar National Identity Card contract.  The 
trial that started last December has been thrice adjourned, 
and both the trial judge and the leading prosecution counsel 
have been replaced without explanation.  There are rumors 
that Chief Sunday Afolabi, a former Minister and President 
Obasanjo's 2003 campaign coordinator in the Southwest, had 
been poisoned after telling close aides he was ready to 
disclose how he used his share of the loot to finance 
Obasanjo's re-election.  Another rumor flying around is that 
Hussaini Akwanga, Labor Minister until he was indicted, has 
left the country, but he has been seen in Abuja since and may 
only have embarked on a foreign trip in spite of court 
restrictions on his movements.  End Summary. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
2. (U) On December 3, 2003 police arrested then Labor 
Minister Hussaini Akwanga, former Internal Affairs Ministers 
Afolabi and Shata, former Internal Affairs PermSec Akerele, 
former state governor and past ruling-PDP Secretary 
Okwesilieze Nwodo, and Internal Affairs Ministry Director 
Christopher Agidi.  Nigerians were shocked when Secretary to 
the Government Ekaette announced on December 4 that Akwanga 
had been fired from his post as Labor Minister, as the 
present Constitution gives immunity to sitting Ministers  The 
prosecution by the GON's Independent Corrupt Practices 
Commission (ICPC) coincided with the Commonwealth Heads of 
Government Meeting (CHOGM) the GON was hosting in Abuja, and 
was seen variously as first fruits of Obasanjo's long 
proclaimed crackdown on corruption or as window dressing for 
CHOGM. 
 
3. (U) On December 29, the ICPC presented a 16-count charge 
to Justice Bukar Ibrahim of the Abuja High Court accusing the 
ministers and their collaborators of receiving various sums 
of money totaling over USD 2 million in local and foreign 
currencies from one Mr. Niyi Adelagun, a Nigerian business 
partner of Sagem S.A., the French company that won the USD 
214 million contract for the National Identity Card.  The 
seven were indicted for corruptly receiving the money to 
support or favor the bidding process of Sagem S.A., while the 
ICPC brief accused Adelagun of offering the bribes. 
According to the ICPC, all of these are offenses punishable 
under section 19 of the Nigeria's Corrupt Practices and Other 
Related Offenses Act, 2000. 
 
4. (U) Adelagun, who allegedly offered the bribes, did not 
appear before the court.  The prosecutor and principal legal 
officer, Sanusi Kado explained that Adelagun was absent 
because the police had not been able to serve a warrant on 
him.  Counsels to the accused objected to Kado's explanation, 
given that their clients had been arrested, and they 
challenged the indictment on the basis of Adelagun's absence. 
 Justice Ibrahim dismissed their objection, noting that the 
ICPC prosecutor did not need to explain why others were not 
arrested (giving and receiving bribes being different crimes). 
 
5. (U) Head of the Nigerian Civil Service Yayale Ahmed, whose 
name was connected with the scandal in the indictment, was 
not charged.  Ahmed has claimed he had been offered USD 
250,000 from the contract kickback, and had immediately 
reported the matter to security agents and the ICPC.  Ahmed 
will likely be a key witness during the trial. 
 
6. (U) Defense counsels asked that their clients be released 
on bail, and Justice Ibrahim granted bail December 31 citing 
Nigeria's Constitution and the ICPC Act that their offenses 
were bailable since they were not charged with capital 
crimes.  Even if convicted on all charges, the maximum 
penalties would be no more than five and seven years. 
Ibrahim fixed the main trial for January 23 and ordered the 
defendants to remain within Abuja and to surrender their 
international passports to Abuja Commissioner of Police. 
 
THE CASE IS GOING NOWHERE FAST... 
--------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) On January 23 all the parties involved were present at 
the court except Justice Ibrahim, and the case was adjourned 
until March 25.  Court sources told Political Specialist that 
Justice Ibrahim was out of Abuja at that time sitting as a 
member of an election tribunal hearing an ongoing suit 
against the 2003 elections: "The participation of Justice 
Ibrahim in the election tribunal was equally crucial and 
time-sensitive."  The sources claimed, "Members of the 
election tribunals were working round to clock to meet 
deadlines." 
 
8. (U) On March 25 the court reconvened again but made no 
progress in the case.  Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi took over 
as the presiding judge, replacing Justice Ibrahim, and Chief 
Makanjuola Esan replaced Sanusi Kado as the ICPC prosecutor. 
No reasons were given for the changes.  Esan asked for 
adjournment, saying he needed more time to study the case. 
Justice Oniyangi accepted that, adjourning until June 2. 
Before the adjournment, defense counsels asked that their 
clients be allowed to continue on the original terms of their 
bail.  The ICPC Prosecutor oddly did not object, given 
longstanding ICPC complaints that bail allows the accused in 
corruption cases to escape justice, and Justice Oniyangi 
ruled that his predecessor's granting of bail would continue. 
 
...WHILE THE ACCUSED SEEM TO GO WHEREVER THEY WANT 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
9. (C) There have been persistent rumors that the accused 
have traveled despite the terms of their bail.  Ex-Labor 
Minister Akwanga was seen recently in Abuja, but his former 
aide tells us Akwanga traveled throughout Nigeria for 
consultations after his bail.  Two sources from Akwanga's 
Nasarawa hometown have claimed publicly that he visited 
London in January.  Attempting to debunk this story, the 
former aide said that "the court ordered him to deposit his 
passport with the FCT police command, so how could he travel 
abroad?"  After being sacked in December, Akwanga was 
forcefully evicted from his official quarters and relocated 
to a private residence.  Asked about the trial, the aide said 
Akwanga was initially worried but later he appeared to be 
confident.  Others among the accused are similarly rumored to 
have traveled both inside and outside Nigeria. 
 
OTHER RUMORS 
------------ 
 
10. (C) The case is surrounded by rumors.  One of former 
Interior Minister Afolabi's family members told the press 
that soon after Afolabi was indicted and threatened to talk, 
he became seriously ill.  Rumors started flying that he had 
been killed by poisoning.  Afolabi's lawyer, J.B. Daudu, told 
Pol-Specialist that Afolabi had been admitted to the 
University of Ife Teaching Hospital Intensive Care Unit, and 
that Afolabi's condition continued to deteriorate daily. 
Daudu said neither the doctors nor the family could identify 
the exact nature of the illness.  Other usually reliable 
sources say Afolabi has since been flown abroad to an unnamed 
location for treatment for an undisclosed renal problem, and 
that his chances of survival were very slim. 
 
11. (C) Many rumors have it that President Obasanjo's wife 
Stella and son Gbenga are very afraid of Afolabi giving 
testimony in court.  The First Lady is involved in a company 
that was working with the French company Sagem on the 
National Identity Card project, although neither she nor her 
company were mentioned in the indictment or in the ICPC 
prosecutor's wider presentation before the court.  The rumors 
credit Stella and Gbenga with using their connections to 
ensure that Sagem got the contract, including the President's 
introducing the company to Afolabi.  Various Embassy contacts 
tell us Stella's company used various "supplier" companies to 
gain about USD 36 million -- a recurring figure more than 15 
times the amount of the alleged bribes in the ICPC indictment 
-- from the National Identity Card project. 
 
12. (C) The National Identity Card project was conceived many 
years ago by then military head of state Obasanjo, and it was 
long rumored to have been used by succeeding military rulers 
of Nigeria to steal public funds before the return to 
civilian rule in 1999. 
 
13. (C) Will the case make any headway from its next 
scheduled date of June 2?  Most Nigerians are beginning to 
wonder.  A local cigarette vendor put that view quite 
succinctly: "They may come up with another trick to postpone 
the trial, or at the end the trial may not produce any 
tangible result."  The alternative view among Nigerians, 
first fruits of anti-corruption efforts, seems to be 
withering on the vine. 
ROBERTS