US embassy cable - 03LAGOS309

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
CAIRO FOR MAXSTADT 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2007 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, PINR, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: A VISIT TO FOUR SOUTHERN STATES: PART 2 - 
BAYELSA 
 
REF: LAGOS 102 
 
 
Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL ROBYN HINS0JN-JONES FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) A 
 
 
ND (D). 
 
 
1.  (U)  Summary.  Once almost guaranteed re-election to the 
governorship of oil producing Bayelsa State, the incumbent, 
DSP Alamieyesiegha, is facing serious charges of corruption 
that have the possibility of disqualifying him.  In the four 
years of his administration, the governor has had some very 
visible successes in improving the infrastructure and economy 
of Bayelsa.  Despite his accomplishments, the fact of 
continuing legal challenges to his candidacy reflects 
dissatisfaction with the corruption that permeates Nigerian 
politics.  End summary. 
 
 
Background 
 
 
2. (C)  For at least the past fifty years, repeated attempts 
have been made to divide Nigeria up into a manageable and 
rational pattern of States that would satisfy the demands for 
autonomy of its hundreds of distinct ethnic groups.  Parts of 
both Delta and Rivers States were combined in 1996 to form 
Bayelsa State and meet the desires of the Ijaw ethnic group. 
Bayelsa thus became the thirty-sixth and newest Nigerian 
State.  The Governor of Bayelsa is Chief Diepreye Solomon 
Peter Alamieyesiegha (known to his supporters as "DSP" or the 
"Governor-General of the Ijaws".)  He is a member of the 
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and until the PDP 
gubernatorial primary in early January, DSP appeared to be a 
shoo-in for re-election.  Minister of Public Works and close 
confidant of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Tony Anenih, had 
endorsed the re-election of all incumbent PDP governors and 
vowed the Party's support. DSP was rumored to have a campaign 
warchest of billions of naira; so much financing that he 
reportedly purchased thirty-five speed boats to campaign in 
the region where it is usually easier to travel by boat than 
by road.  In late January, however, a stumbling block arose 
in the form of a citizen's complaint against DSP to the 
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses 
Commission (ICPC).  The complaint charged him with fraud and 
improper use of government funds.  Eight other PDP governors 
(four of whom, including DSP, are from the south) are also 
under investigation by the ICPC.  With elections scheduled 
for March and April, the road to the Government House at 
Creek Haven does not look as easy for DSP as it once did. 
 
 
Getting to Bayelsa 
 
 
3. (U) Shortly before the ICPC investigations started, 
PolOffs went to pay a courtesy/orientation visit to Governor 
Alamieyeseigha . After flying from Lagos to Port Harcourt in 
Rivers State, the short trip by road to Yenagoa, the capital 
of Bayelsa, underscored the endemic problem of no maintenance 
of federal roads in most of Nigeria.  Bayelsa is a littoral 
oil state and, with its share of oil income, should be fairly 
prosperous and well-maintained, but gaping holes in the road 
made for slow going in our short drive to the capital.  The 
situation changed remarkably, however, at the Rivers/Bayelsa 
border.  A four-lane, newly-paved highway led north into the 
State through what appeared to be overgrown, uncultivated 
land.  About two miles from the Bayelsa State Offices, a 
"commercial strip" started that ran all the way to our 
destination at the State Offices.  The strip was only one 
small store or stall deep, and we then understood how Bayelsa 
State earned the sobriquet of the "State with only one city 
and one road." 
 
 
Big man in Bayelsa 
 
 
4.  (C)  We were ushered in to the spacious and elegantly 
appointed offices of DSP, to join a group of people waiting 
to see the governor.  After a wait of slightly over an hour 
during which DSP apparently dealt with state vendors and 
contractors ahead of us in line, we got to talk with the 
governor.  (Comment.  DSP actually is a big man--over six 
feet tall and very heavyset.  He and the PDP members of his 
cabinet and administration are always photographed in black, 
wide-brimmed fedoras, giving them the appearance of early 
twentieth century Mafioso.  End comment.)  DSP was expansive 
and happy to spend time telling PolOffs of the 
accomplishments of his administration.  He said that when he 
came into office, there was no State Office building or 
governor's Mansion, and he slept on the floor of the 
dilapidated former office building.  Power generation in the 
State had been so bad or lacking, he said, that until 
recently the State could provide power only every third day. 
He bragged about the new road and a recent improvement in the 
provision of electric power to the capital.  He told us that 
his dream of building the School of Arts and Sciences at 
Niger Delta University had come true when the school opened 
early this year. 
5. (C)  Asked about his campaign for governor, he was proud 
to tell us about the thirty-five boats he had bought and 
invited us to take a boat tour with him of the State on our 
next trip.  DSP was not so ebullient when asked about 
challengers he faced and possible political violence that 
might flare up during the campaigns.  At the time, DSP faced 
at least ten opponents, even some from his own party and 
administration.  He frowned and answered that none of those 
contenders would last to the primary (he was correct), and if 
any one caused politically related violence he would "get 
them, even if (he) had to track them to their bedrooms!"  The 
meeting ended on a positive note with the governor reminding 
us that Bayelsa was only six years old and had already made 
great progress under his administration. 
6. (C)  Comment.  DSP is a former military officer, as are 
many at all levels of the Obasanjo government.  Military 
style of unitary control, with everyone having to come to him 
for decisions, was evident during our meeting.  He has no 
real opposition, and if the ICPC investigation does not 
disqualify him, he will probably be re-elected.  However, the 
ICPC complaint was brought by noted human rights activist, 
attorney and presidential candidate, Gani Fawahinmi.  The 
presence of Fawahinmi, a dogged pursuer of alleged 
miscreants, makes the matter unlikely to just disappear. 
Despite public statements of support from the PDP and the 
Obasanjo administration, DSP has had to take focus off his 
campaign and respond to the multiplying charges.  The facts 
that DSP has faced one challenge after another to his 
candidacy, and that one of the nine (Chinwoke Mbadinuju from 
Anambra State) has already been disqualified, reflect the 
public's growing demand for transparency and accountability 
in government. 
HINSON-JONES