US embassy cable - 05ABUJA1184

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KDEM, KCOR, KCRM, NI, ELECTIONS 
SUBJECT: ON THE EVE OF THE DECISION ON THE 2003 ELECTION 
CHALLENGE, NIGERIA'S SUPREME COURT IS ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION 
 
REF: ABUJA 460 
 
Classified By: Acting POL/ECON Counselor Lawrence A. Walker for reasons 
 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.    (SBU) Intrigue, politics, and mudslinging have taken 
center stage at Nigerian Supreme Court.  On June 21, a few 
days before delivering a judgment on the conduct of 2003 
Nigerian presidential elections, Chief Justice of Nigeria 
(CJN) Muhammadu Uwais was accused of receiving bribes from a 
party to a case before the Supreme Court.  Never before has a 
lawyer stood before the Supreme Court justices to allege 
corrupt practices against them.  Justice Uwais, due to retire 
next year, scoffed at the allegations and challenged his 
accusers to produce their evidence.  Later, he said that 
"certain unnamed forces" within and outside the Supreme Court 
wanted to force him into early retirement.  He expressed his 
readiness "to die for Nigeria" while doing his job. 
 
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DRAMA AT THE SUPREME COURT 
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2.    (U) On June 21, a lawyer addressing a panel of five 
Supreme Court justices, headed by CJN Uwais, accused the 
judges of receiving 13 new Honda cars from the opposing party 
(a Honda dealer) in the dispute before the Court.  Never 
before has a lawyer stood before the Supreme Court justices 
to allege corrupt practices against them.  The official 
method for handling complaints against judges is to file a 
petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC).  CJN Uwais 
admitted his surprise at this attack method in a widely 
circulated press interview:  "I have been in this court since 
1979 and to the best of my knowledge, there was no moment 
when litigants came to the face of the court to say that the 
judge or judges are corrupt and they would not like their 
case be heard." 
 
3.    (SBU) Ephraim Duru, the attorney who made the 
accusations, is lead counsel for Globe Motors Holdings 
Limited, who is suing Honda Place Limited.  (Note:  Honda 
Place is owned by the Vaswani brothers, Indian nationals 
alleged to have business links with Vice President Atiku 
Abubakar.  They were deported in 2003 by President Obasanjo 
following irreconcilable differences with tycoon Aliko 
Dangote, a major contributor to Obasanjo's campaign funds 
during elections, but the brothers maintain their business 
interests in Nigeria.  End Note.) 
 
4.    (U) Duru offered documents to support his claim that 
the justices have received 13 Hondas from Honda Place.  Both 
the panel of justices and the assembled observers reacted 
with surprise.  Uwais challenged Dure:  "Come, remove your 
wig and grown, swear and tell us how we received bribe.  How 
can any responsible counsel allow himself to be used in this 
way?  You are commissioned to do a dirty job!" 
 
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CURIOUS TWISTS AND TURNS 
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5.    (SBU) This dispute between the Honda dealers dates from 
2001 and has appeared before two previous judicial panels, 
one headed by Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, the other by 
Justice Salihu Alpha Belgore.  CJN Uwais did not participate 
in the two previous panels. When the Belgore panel dismissed 
Globe Motors' petition in February 2003, Uwais ordered the 
case relisted for hearing, with himself in charge of the new 
panel, which first sat in April 2003.  All the lawyers 
representing the parties were present in court at that time, 
including Duru, and none raised any objection.  Observers 
were surprised when Duru accused the justices of impropriety 
more than two years later.  Some argued if Uwais had a 
personal interest in the case, he would have accepted the 
decision of Belgore's panel in Honda Place's favor. 
 
6.    (C) Curiously, after the stormy court session, Justice 
Belgore, a strong contender to be the next CJN after Uwais, 
reportedly handed over money to two journalists that covered 
the court sitting.  Belgore is believed to the sponsor of the 
negative campaign against the justices. 
 
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FLURRY OF ALLEGATIONS "NOT NEW" 
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7.    (SBU) Apart from the allegation of receiving cars, a 
petition filed by Duru accused Uwais of buying houses in 
Nigeria and abroad, maintaining foreign bank accounts, and 
giving out two official cars to each of his two wives.  The 
petition also accused the CJN of using his position to get 
his son a job with one of Nigeria's leading banks.  Uwais was 
also accused of interfering in the Rivers State case against 
Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Limited, the American oil 
firm. 
 
8.    (SBU) Uwais denied everything, telling reporters these 
allegations were not new.  He said that over the last few 
years, there had been several similar court petitions written 
to dent his image.  The current petition, he said, is from 
the same group, "Patriotic Derivative Front," that had 
accused the Supreme Court Justices of receiving about 5 
billion naira (about USD 38 million) to find that Delta State 
Governor James Ibori of Delta State was not an ex-convict and 
therefore was allowed to hold office (reftel).  Uwais said he 
believed the attacks were meant to force him to retire 
prematurely.  "The people behind it want to hurry me out of 
here so they can take over." 
 
9.    (U) Uwais laughed when journalists asked him to 
respond:  "The Supreme Court has no Honda cars.  The National 
Judicial Council has 13 cars.  The Federal Judicial Service 
Commission has five Honda cars.  These were purchased from 
dealers in Abuja.  You can find out.  In the Supreme Court, 
every justice has a Mercedes as his official car and he has 
what is called a backup car, normally a Peugeot." 
 
10.   (U) On the topic of the properties he owns, Uwais 
declared that he owns five houses, one of which he inherited, 
the other four purchased with mortgages.  He denied 
maintaining any foreign bank account, explaining that he had 
an English bank account as a student there, but closed it 
when he returned to Nigeria after graduation. 
 
11.   (U) Uwais emphatically denied interfering in the Rivers 
State case, stating that his only involvement was to respond 
to a petition by Halliburton requesting a stay of judgment 
against the company.  Halliburton had been directed to pay 
about USD 6.3 million to some communities of the Niger Delta, 
and had both filed an appeal against the judgment and 
requested a stay of judgment.  Uwais denied the request for a 
stay of judgment. 
 
12.   (U) Asked whether he was worried, Uwais replied, "I am 
worried for both myself and the institution...All these 
allegations, all these calumnies to give money to others to 
do dirty jobs.  I do fear for my life but that will not stop 
me from doing my job.  If I die today for the sake of 
Nigeria, I feel fulfilled," he concluded. 
 
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COMMENT 
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13.   (C) Justice Belgore's agenda is unclear.  Sources 
believe he has links with Generals Ibrahim Babangida and 
Abdulsalami Abubakar, both former military heads of state, 
and is also friendly with Obasanjo.  Some observers suggested 
that Belgore knows the July 1 verdict, and finding it 
unfavorable to the presidency, may be trying to intimidate or 
harass the Chief Justice into changing it.  Other observers 
suggest that Belgore may simply want Uwais' job as Chief 
Justice. 
CAMPBELL