US embassy cable - 04ABUJA2076

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OBASANJO SHELVES PLANS TO ROTATE SERVICE CHIEFS

Identifier: 04ABUJA2076
Wikileaks: View 04ABUJA2076 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Abuja
Created: 2004-12-16 08:54:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: PGOV MARR NI POLMIL
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ABUJA 002076 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, MARR, NI, POLMIL 
SUBJECT: OBASANJO SHELVES PLANS TO ROTATE SERVICE CHIEFS 
 
REF:  A. IIR 6 871 0001 5 
      B. ABUJA 2075 
1.  Post reported in ref A that President Obasanjo was 
planning to replace the military service heads by year's 
end.  A daily newspaper, The Vanguard, reported on December 
12 that Obasanjo has shelved those plans and asked the 
service chiefs to stay on for now.  Sources within the 
Presidency claim the change was the result of the succession 
squabbles the planned retirement have generated and "the 
absolute loyalty (the service chiefs) were believed to have 
shown to the Obasanjo administration." 
 
2.  Comment.  If Obasanjo is concerned about the stability 
of his regime and the threat of a military coup (ref b), as 
he (and we) should be, this could be a move to maintain his 
cadre of loyalists in the military. 
 
CAMPBELL 

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