US embassy cable - 04LAGOS2418

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 002418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, DRL, AND INR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2009 
TAGS: NI, PREL, PGOV, KDEM 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST GOVERNOR 
NGIGE? 
 
REF: LAGOS 2353 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne per 1.4 b and d 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  The Anambra State crisis continues to 
replay itself like a B-rated soap opera.  Nigerian press 
reported that on November 29 gunmen attempted to assassinate 
embattled Anambra Governor Chris Ngige, presumably at the 
behest of his nemesis -- the presidentially connected, Chris 
Uba  (reftels).  The Anambra police and even a member of 
Ngige's staff contradict the press' reports.  Meanwhile, on 
November 30, the Enugu Court of Appeal ruled that a lower 
court lacked jurisdiction to remove Ngige from office.  While 
this court decision may result in the full return of Ngige's 
security detail, it will not resolve the Anambra crisis. 
Ngige and Uba continue to talk, but thus far have failed to 
reach agreement.  President Obasanjo has yet to step in 
decisively to bring this embarrassing drama to a close.  End 
Summary. 
 
Assassination Attempt Against the Governor?  Probably Not. 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
2.  (U)  On Tuesday, November 30, virtually all Nigerian 
dailies led with reports of a thwarted assassination attempt 
against Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige.  Respected 
newspapers headlined, "Ngige escapes assassination in Awka," 
and reported a sudden fusillade as pre-positioned assassins 
took aim on the Governor's convoy.  Ngige and members of the 
Senate Committee on State and Local governments were touring 
the government buildings that had been burned November 10-11 
when the shootings occurred, allegedly forcing them to 
scamper for cover. 
 
3.  (C)  However, Anambra State Police Commissioner Felix 
Ogbaudu and members of Ngige's own staff contradicted these 
press reports in conversations with PolChief.  Ogbaudu, 
present at the time of the shootings, said mobile police 
(MoPol) assigned to Ngige fired into the air as the convoy 
approached its visit site.  Apparently Mopol believed "area 
boys" associated with Uba were in the vicinity.  Ogbaudu 
insisted, however, that no area boys were present. (Note: 
MoPol comes under a separate command structure than the State 
police.  End Note.) 
 
4.  (C) Ogbaudu blasted the press for "repeatedly telling 
lies."  He vented, "Where are the cars allegedly riddled with 
bullet holes as a result of this assassination attempt? 
Where are the bodies of the 27 people the newspapers said 
were killed during the November 10-11 arsons?  No one was 
killed earlier this month and there was no assassination 
attempt on Monday."  Ogbaudu said Nigerian journalists 
publish what they are paid to write, without regard to truth 
or to the public impact.  Ogbaudu asserted that for Ngige and 
Uba, the press was but a tool in their base attempts to 
achieve their respective political ambitions and to demonize 
the other. 
 
5.  (C)  Chucks Akunna, Chief Press Secretary to the 
Governor, told Polchief the Ngige team had heard earlier in 
the day that Uba's faction was planning to demonstrate near 
the sites they were to visit.  Akunna, who was inside the 
burned Anambra Broadcasting Station as the convoy approached, 
said the governor's MoPol fired into the air to disperse the 
crowd.  Akunna said Mopol fired because they claimed armed 
men were among the demonstrators.  Akunna confirmed there was 
no return fire from the crowd.  Akunna believed that one 
person had been injured, but did not have any further details. 
 
(Comment:  Ogbaudu is not exactly a neutral observer, he is 
presumably allied with Uba.  Ogbaudu has been accused of 
standing idly by while armed bands burned government 
buildings earlier in the month.  Some even accused the police 
of abetting the marauders and Ngige has called for Ogbaudu's 
replacement.  However, the separate account given by Akunna, 
a Ngige man, tracks, more or less, with Ogbaudu's report. 
There does not appear to have been an assassination attempt. 
End Comment.) 
 
... Meanwhile Court Rules in Favor of Governor Ngige 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
6.  (U)  Meanwhile, on November 30, the Nigerian Court of 
Appeal, sitting in Enugu State, vacated the January 2 order 
of a lower Enugu court, which directed that Ngige be removed 
from office.  It was this lower court order that spurned the 
Nigerian Inspector of Police to remove Ngige's security 
detail.  A court in Awka, capital of Anambra, had earlier set 
aside the lower court's ruling, ushering in the show-down at 
the Appeal Court. 
 
7.  (C)  Ngige's press secretary and Ngige's senior adviser 
(who also happens to be Ngige's elder sister) told Polchief 
separately that the governor was pleased and relieved by the 
court decision.  They hoped this decision would result in the 
full restoration of Ngige's security detail.  Both expected, 
however, that Uba's faction would appeal to the Supreme Court 
in Abuja. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (C)  Governor Ngige, State Assembly Speaker Balonwu, 
State Secretary Chukwura, and various other state officials 
have cloaked themselves in the mantle of "besieged victim," 
blithely failing to note that the governor stole the election 
in the first instance.  They claim, for example, that they 
sleep in different houses every night; that they've sent 
their wives and children into hiding; that Uba is monitoring 
their phone calls, etc., etc.  Speaker Balonwu's 
conversations with Mission staff have been particularly 
dramatic with him accusing President Obasanjo, and by "its 
non-action," the USG, of supporting "state terrorism."  Uba's 
camp probably does wish a plague on the governor's house -- 
at least as long as Ngige is its occupier; and the ill will 
is probably reciprocrated.  There may even be some in the Uba 
faction prepared to harm the governor.  However, in our view, 
Ngige and entourage now may be overplaying the "victim role." 
 Anambra would be better served if they spent more energy 
seriously trying to resolve the crisis in the state, and less 
time in the press conference room. 
BROWNE