US embassy cable - 02ABUJA2767

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002767 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2012 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA:  BIWEEKLY POLITICAL UPDATE 
 
Classified by DCM Timothy D. Andrews.  Reasons 1.5 (B & D). 
 
 
1.  (U) This biweekly update for political events in 
Nigeria includes items of interest from recent weeks. 
Topics covered in this edition include: 
 
 
-- Political Assassinations 
-- House Speaker Faces Corrupt Practices Commission 
-- Release of Mohammed Abacha 
-- National Assembly Proposal for Term Limits 
 
 
POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS 
------------------------ 
 
 
2.  (U)  A series of assassinations and unsuccessful 
attempts on the lives of politicians in Nigeria has 
occurred over the past few weeks.  In Kogi State, the Kwara 
State Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 
Mr. Ahman Ahmed Patigi was ambushed by unidentified gunmen 
and killed on his way to Abuja at the end of August.  The 
gunmen reportedly forced his car to stop and opened fire on 
the vehicle, killing Patigi and a police aide and injuring 
another passenger in the vehicle.  One of his predecessors 
as state party chairman was killed in a traffic accident 
last year, and another recently switched to the All 
Nigerian People's Party. 
 
 
3.  (U)  Barnabus Igwe, a high-profile attorney and critic 
of vigilante squads, and his wife were ambushed and killed 
in Onitsha, Anambra state on September 1.  According to 
reports, Igwe had received death threats after his public 
criticism of the Anambra State Government's poor 
performance and Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju's funding of a 
vigilante group known as the Bakassi Boys, who some suspect 
were involved in the murders. 
 
 
4.  (U)  Delta State House of Representatives member Chief 
Nduka Irabor and his wife escaped death two weeks ago when 
a gunman scaled the roof of his residence and fired shots 
into the couple's bedroom as they slept.  In Ibadan, Oyo 
State, Senator Lekan Balogun escaped death when two 
assailants gained entry to his bedroom.  Balogun's security 
detail killed one of the assailants while the second, 
injured in the gunfire, escaped. 
 
 
5.  (U)  In Kano, the National Vice-chairman of the United 
Nigeria People's Party (UNPP) Alhaji Isiyaku Mohammed was 
not as lucky as men broke into the bedroom of his home and 
executed him in front of his family.  A family friend said 
that the assassins turned down offers of money to spare his 
life.  Mohammed was often identified as an ally of IBB. 
 
 
HOUSE SPEAKER NA'ABBA IN CORRUPT PRACTICES INVESTIGATION 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
 
6.  (U)  The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other 
Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced an 
investigation into Speaker of the House Ghali Umar Na'Abba 
as a response to a petition from another House member 
earlier this month.  ICPC Assistant Director Mr. Kalu Otisi 
announced that "there exists sufficient reasons" to 
investigate the Speaker.  Na'Abba, in an effort to avoid 
the investigation, petitioned the Federal High Court to 
force the ICPC to abandon its investigation, claiming it 
was an "executive branch attempt to intimidate him."  His 
challenge is based on a question of the constitutionality 
of the ICPC Act of 2000 and whether the Commission is 
empowered to investigate actions predating its 
establishment in 2000. 
 
 
7.  (C)  The court ruled against Na'Abba on September 23, 
allowing the investigation to proceed.  Several members of 
the House told PolOff that the ruling was troublesome for 
two reasons.  Not only did it set the precedent for 
investigating sitting legislators for corruption, possibly 
at the behest of the President, but it also possibly set 
the stage for selecting a third Speaker only a few months 
before the next round of legislative elections, they said. 
The Court adjourned the case until October 15, when it is 
set to rule on corollary issues raised by Na'Abba. 
 
 
Mohammed Abacha Released (Again) 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
8.  (U)  Mohammed Abacha returned to his home in Kano on 
September 24 after a group of Northern leaders successfully 
intervened with President Obasanjo.  Abacha had been 
cleared of charges related to the murder of Kudirat Abiola 
in July, but still faced 111 charges related to financial 
improprieties.  The Abuja High Court had ordered Abacha 
released on bail on September 19, but he was immediately 
re-arrested for questioning by security officials. 
 
 
9.  (U)  A line of supporters, including the Emir and 
Governor of Kano, Speaker of the House Ghali Na'Abba, and a 
who's who of northern politicians, traditional leaders and 
businessmen are said to have negotiated Abacha's release 
from his latest detention.  According to the press, Abacha 
agreed again to return a large portion of the money his 
father Sani Abacha was alleged to have stolen during his 
regime.  The terms of release also call for Abacha's 
restriction to Kano and monitoring by security services of 
his activities.  In public statements, Abacha continues to 
deny any agreement to return money to the Nigerian 
treasury, while the Kano State Government stated that the 
conditions of his release did, in fact, include the 
agreement that the family would return approximately one 
billion dollars to Nigeria. 
 
 
10.  (C)  COMMENT: The decision to release Abacha from 
detention was controversial within the GON.  We believe 
that President Obasanjo, seeking to defuse the impeachment 
crisis, wanted to make the growing issue of the propriety 
of Abacha's detention go away.  Even outside of Abacha's 
Kano hometown, questions about the GON's respect for court 
rulings were starting to be raised.  Abacha, according to 
some who visited him in detention over the past two years, 
steadfastly maintained that the GON could convict him of no 
offense and was unwilling to negotiate.  Having released 
Abacha, the GON must now try to collect money from him and 
his family.  The threat of re-arrest will hang over the 
former dictator's eldest surviving son until resolution of 
that issues is achieved.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
National Assembly:  Term Limits and Rotational Presidency 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
11.  (U)  The Joint National Assembly Committee on the 
Review of the 1999 Constitution has returned several 
suggestions to the Legislature for modifying the much- 
criticized Constitution.  Among the provisions it proposes 
is a plan to change the presidential term to one five-year 
term and to ensure that the presidency rotates among the 
six geo-political zones of Nigeria.  According to some 
representatives, if they succeed in modifying the 
Constitution before the end of this Legislative session, 
the modifications would become retroactive, i.e., binding 
on current elected officials, effectively barring Obasanjo 
from a second term. 
JETER