US embassy cable - 05ABUJA2168

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2015 
TAGS: SNAR, PREL, PGOV, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: PRESIDENT OBASANJO CONVENES MEETING ON 
NARCOTICS 
 
REF: ABUJA 002020 
 
Classified By: Charge Thomas P. Furey for Reasons 1.5(b), (d) 
 
1.         Summary:  President Obasanjo convened a meeting 
November 9 to continue the discussion on Nigeria,s record on 
fighting narcotics trafficking.  The Chairman of the NDLEA, 
Dr. Bello, gave an impassioned presentation refuting American 
and British allegations of poor performance that was weak on 
substance.  The President gave no indication that he thought 
Dr. Bello had succeeded in refuting the allegations and he 
thanked the Americans and British for &raising the alarm.8 
President Obasanjo has received the message and appears to 
understand the gravity of the situation.  Whether or not any 
action flows from this, the Nigerians will not be able to say 
that they were not warned if Nigeria does not get recertified 
six months from now.  End Summary. 
 
2.     Following up on the October 20 President Obasanjo had 
with Ambassador Campbell and the British High Commissioner, 
the President convened a meeting of his law enforcement 
officials November 9  to discuss further Nigeria,s record on 
narcotics interdiction.  The British High Commissioner and I 
were invited to participate.  The President opened by asking 
the Chairman of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency 
(NDLEA), Dr. Bello Lafiaji, to respond to the &serious 
allegations8 of poor performance by his agency that have 
been made by the Americans and British officials. 
 
3.    Dr. Bello had prepared a power point presentation that 
was long on graphics and short on substance.  At one point 
President Obasanjo somewhat irritably told Dr. Bello to move 
it along.  Dr. Bello cited statistics showing the number of 
people who had been arrested and prosecuted over the last 
several years and the amount of drugs seized, but he never 
addressed one of our main criticisms:  the fact that the 
arrests have been of low-level couriers and not of any drug 
kingpins and that the drug shipments seized have been small 
shipment and not any of the large, significant ones. 
Although Dr. Bello stated as a fact that major traffickers 
have been arrested and large shipments have been seized, he 
did not cite any specific evidence that would support those 
claims. 
 
4.    Dr. Bello,s presentation was impassioned.  At several 
points he spoke quite loudly to emphasize his points.  He 
ended by noting that the NDLEA works closely with DEA Lagos 
and with the British drug enforcement officials and that the 
relationship needed to be based on mutual trust.  His tone 
was one of someone who was hurt by the &unfair allegations.8 
 
5.    President Obasanjo then turned to the British High 
Commissioner and me.  The High Commissioner noted that there 
was no new evidence here to refute the allegations that we 
had made, that the amount of narcotics entering the UK and 
the U.S. from Nigeria continues to grow, and that there was 
irrefutable evidence that NDLEA officials had fabricated 
evidence to support a Nigerian drug kingpin, Dr. Gabriel 
Solomons, who had been convicted in the UK.  He noted that a 
major trafficker had been arrested in Lagos after the 
American and British officials complained last month but that 
there has been no publicity about this arrest and it was 
unclear whether the authorities would vigorously pursue 
prosecution.  I noted that the reason we were raising these 
issues now was that Nigeria would be coming up for 
recertification in approximately six months and there are 
many people in Washington who are questioning whether Nigeria 
should be recertified, given their track record in recent 
years.  A denial of recertification for Nigeria would have 
grave implications for the bilateral relationship, including 
a significant reduction in our aid program. 
 
6.    The President thanked the Americans and British for 
&raising the alarm8 and said that Nigeria, the U.S., and 
the UK are all working for the same objective of fighting 
narcotics trafficking.  He turned to Dr. Bello and, in a tone 
that was somewhat lecturing, told him that he &should not 
take anything for granted.8  He said there needed to be 
greater communications flows in both directions and all 
information had to be investigated.  He ended the meeting by 
stating that the &relationship should be smooth8 and the 
concerns raised by the U.S. and the UK should not be viewed 
as an indictment of NDLEA but rather as a call for greater 
cooperation. 
 
7.    Comment:  Clearly President Obasanjo is seized with the 
issue of Nigeria,s record on narcotics interdiction.  He did 
not at any point in the meeting indicate that he thought that 
Dr. Bello had successfully refuted the allegations we have 
raised.  He also did not indicate in any way that he thought 
the allegations were unfounded.  His role during the meeting 
was more that of a facilitator who was trying to bring two 
sides together.  It remains to be seen where the NDLEA goes 
from here, but if Nigeria does face a loss of certification 
they will not be able to say that they were not warned. 
 
FUREY