US embassy cable - 03ABUJA803

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000803 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
CAIRO FOR POL - MAXSTADT 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ARMY MINISTER DISMISSES OPPOSITION 
THREATS OF NON-RECOGNITION 
 
REF: ABUJA 749 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR HOWARD F. JETER. REASONS 1.5 (B) 
AND (D). 
 
 
1.  (C) During an April 28 meeting, Ambassador Jeter and 
Minister of State for Defense (Army) Lawal Batagarawa 
discussed the recent Presidential elections.  Batagarawa 
thought opposition candidate Mohammadu Buhari's calls to 
reject President Olusegun Obasanjo's electoral victory 
would be ineffective - most people would ignore Buhari's 
exhortation.  He said the PDP was "opening channels of 
communication" to Buhari's supporters, encouraging them to 
take their grievances to the electoral tribunals. 
(COMMENT: In an April 24 meeting the Ambassador (REF), 
Minister of Defense T.Y. Danjuma also indicated the PDP 
would be reaching out to the opposition parties this week. 
END COMMENT.) 
 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador suggested that President Obasanjo 
could ease some of the political tension and be seen as 
taking a conciliatory high road by publicly acknowledging 
the elections were defective and emphasizing the need for 
the electoral tribunal to cure these problems.  Batagarawa 
responded that the President had already asked the 
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to look 
into allegations of electoral misconduct.  However, the 
President was loathe "to make statements that would cause 
more problems than they would solve" by undermining both 
the electoral tribunals and INEC. Batagarawa expressed 
confidence in the Nigerian legal system and said any 
investigations into electoral misconduct must originate 
with the tribunals, not the Presidency.  Batagarawa stated 
he would like to see international observers involved in 
the tribunals to enhance the credibility of the process. 
 
 
3.  (C) Citing Kano and Katsina as examples, the Minister 
complained ANPP used traditional rulers and religion to 
insure its victory in parts of the North.  In addition to 
accusing the ANPP of threatening PDP supporters in Kano, 
Batagarawa said the Emir of Katsina instructed his 
followers to vote for Buhari. 
 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT: Batagarawa was actively involved in the 
PDP campaign in the North and thus his views are those of 
an interested party.  Nevertheless, his assertion of ANPP 
exercise of undue pressure in Northern states is credible. 
Batagarawa's view that the electoral tribunals would 
correct all the defects in the elections is overly 
optimistic. 
 
 
5.  (C) At bottom, Batagarawa seemed to be saying that both 
major parties cheated, thus the ANPP should not be 
complaining.  While this may not be the most noble 
sentiment it probably dominates the PDP mind-set.  END 
COMMENT. 
JETER