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[ID:95500 Cable dated:2007-02-06T15:37:00]
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C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 000087

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W
STATE FOR INR/AA
WARSAW FOR LISA PIASCIK
CIUDAD JUAREZ FOR DONNA BLAIR
ISTANBUL FOR TASHAWNA SMITH
SAO PAULO FOR ANDREW WITHERSPOON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2017
TAGS: CASC, EPET, KDEM, NI, PGOV, PREL
SUBJECT: SITREP 9: HOSTAGES REMAIN CAPTIVE; GOVERNMENT AGREES TO PAY RANSOM

REF: LAGOS 76

Classified By: Consul Alan Latimer for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

1. (C) On February 5, American citizen Bill Graham told Pivot employee (name withheld) the negotiation process should conclude as soon as possible because British national Neil Mirrlees’s condition is very weak. John Walker of Control Risks Group could not confirm delivery of the Oral Rehydration Therapy for Mirrlees. (Reftel)

2. (C) State Security Service (SSS) Director(name withheld) told Walker on February 5 that Governor Ibori has decided to conclude the hostage negotiations despite Federal policy prohibiting ransom payments. This decision was made in light of Mirrlees’s condition, according to SSS Director.
Ransom payment was contingent on the condition that it never be publicly mentioned; SSS Director warned Pivot employee (name withheld) would be arrested if it became known.

3. (C) According to Walker, SSS Director (name withheld) said he would arrange for the hostages’ release once he had the full naira 20 million ransom (approximately USD 156,000) in hand.
BROWNE

The presidential
candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu; the All
Nigeria Peoples Party candidate, Ibrahim Shekarau and the Social
Democratic Mega Party candidate, Pat Utomi will today, in Abuja,
dialogue with Nigerians on the policy direction of their government, if
elected in next month’s election. However, it is not clear yet if
President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and
the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Muhammadu Buhari
will participate in the dialogue as they are yet to make firm
commitment on their attendance.

The three
presidential candidates are to speak to Nigerians at a forum titled
‘Policy Dialogue with Presidential Candidates’ organised by the Murtala
Muhammed Foundation. Mr. Muhammed was Nigeria’s head of state between
July 1975 and February 1976, when he was killed in a bloody but failed
military coup led by Bukar Suka Dimka.

The candidates were
billed to speak yesterday, but were absent from the event apparently
due to campaign engagements outside Abuja. Emeka Maduegbuna, one of the
organisers of the forum, said though one of the candidates, whom he did
not name, was expected to dialogue with Nigerians yesterday when the
event began, he could not do so because of flight challenges in Lagos
where he was coming from.

“His aircraft had a challenge and couldn’t fly into Abuja,” he said.

Mr Maduegbuna, who
was also the master of ceremony, explained that the candidates of the
PDP, ACN, CPC, ANPP and SDMP were invited for the programme but that
only Messrs Ribadu, Shekarau and Utomi confirmed their attendance.

Not disappointed

Also speaking,
Aisha Oyebode, a member of the foundation and daughter of the late head
of state, said she was not disappointed that none of the candidates
made it to the programme yesterday. She explained that it was organised
to enable the flag-bearers tell Nigerians their policy directions in
relation to infrastructure and other issues affecting Nigerians.
“Before the election, I think it is important for us to be able to hear
from the presidential candidates in relation to matters that affect the
collective well being of Nigerians; whether in terms of infrastructure,
whether it is in terms of education, whether it is in terms of health,”
Ms Oyebode told NEXT in an interview after the programme yesterday.

“But I am not
disappointed because they said they are coming tomorrow. I have three
of them coming tomorrow. One was supposed to be here today but his
plane had a problem and so there isn’t much we can do about it. That is
an act of God.

He himself was very apologetic but he is definitely going to be here tomorrow (today).”

Nigerians are
miracle workers. They have devised ingenious means of coping with their
miseries. They construct their own roads, build schools, sink bore
holes, discover the best power generating machines. So, whatever the
government does with the commonwealth is not their business. After all,
they have found a way round their troubles. What a people; what a
country.

A former civilian
governor from one of the south-south states, while on the run from the
law, was actually aided by his people to escape from the country. They
frustrated every attempt by security personnel to track him down. These
same people were those whose wealth he had cornered and used for the
good of himself and family.

Another former
state governor who was recently ousted by the Appeal Court, took his
impoverished state to the capital market to take a bond of over N17bn ,
about seven months to the end of his second term in office. By the time
he was thrown out of office, about 60 per cent of the money had been
spent on ‘developmental projects’. For his ‘good work’ while in office,
a well attended thanksgiving service was organised for him in his
village home. Shouts of ‘hallelujah’ echoed, as the drums were rolled
out to welcome back home a proud son of the soil who has represented
his people well.

Following this same
path of honouring our heroes, a befitting thanksgiving service was also
recently organised for a very important politician in a “rascally” part
of the country, following his completion of a two-year jail term for
corruption. Prominent in the crowd of well-wishers at the service were
a former president, serving governors, ministers, ambassadors, among
others. Their mission was simple: to welcome home a darling son,
leader, father and husband who had done his people proud.

A while ago,
$250,000 cash kept in the treasury room of the Nigerian Football
Federation suddenly developed wings. Almost two years later, nothing
tangible has come of the various investigative panels set up to probe
the missing money. The same Nigerian Football Association was purported
to have paid $250,000 to the Iranian Football Federation, for the Super
Eagles’ failure to turn up for a friendly match with the Iranian
national team. Money, of course, is not our problem. It has never been.

We live in a very
special country with very special humans. A country where people with
questionable records rise to hold prominent political positions. A
country where a man who was living on friends yesterday, suddenly
becomes wealthy overnight after a stint in political office. A country
where people place curses on their relatives for coming out poor after
holding political office.

When will Nigerians
begin to make our leaders accountable to their people? When will
Nigerians ask the kind of questions being asked in the Maghreb? Until
then, let us continue to enjoy the enviable record of being the
happiest people on earth.

Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

Kano State governor
and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate,
Ibrahim Shekarau, has said that he is determined and committed to
bringing the desired change if elected the president of Nigeria in
April 2011.

Mr. Shekarau was
speaking to a crowd of ANPP supporters yesterday in Abakaliki, the
Ebonyi State capital, during the flag-off of the party’s presidential
campaign.

He said Nigerians should expect drastic changes they have been agitating for in all segments of the society.

Mr. Shekarau, who
finally launched his campaign after some disagreement with the Ebonyi
State government, said that Nigeria needs to be bailed out from what he
described as the misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the
last 12 years.

“It is true that
majority of Nigerians have lost confidence in the PDP leadership and
are yearning for change. And we promise to give that desired change
they have been searching for.

“We will restore
safety of lives and properties in Nigeria; we will reduce unemployment;
above all, we shall give every Nigerian a sense of belonging by
restoring justice, which is the bedrock of every democracy,” Mr.
Shekarau promised.

In the same vein,
Julius Ucha, the Ebonyi State governorship flagbearer of the party,
urged the indigenes to ensure that they vote for ANPP at the poll,
saying that their votes would determine their future, liberation of
their children, and above all, peace and unity among them.

Ogbonnaya Onu, the
national chairman of the party, who hails from the state, equally
joined many of the speakers at the event to urge the people of the
state to vote out the PDP-led government. He said ANPP has the capacity
to win the presidential election because it is now a united party.

However, two serving ANPP governors, Madu Sherif and Ibrahim Geidam of Borno and Yobe States, were absent at the occasion.

While in the state, Mr. Shekarau paid a courtesy call on the state
governor, who was represented by his deputy, Chigozie Ogbu, in his
absence.

Former secretary to the Oyo State government,
Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, has alleged that the crisis within the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State is worse because of the
influence of some external forces.

Mr. Alli, who recently left the camp of Rasidi
Ladoja, his former boss, to join the ACN, said the party’s leadership
is still talking to all aggrieved members who were hurt by the
emergence of Abiola Ajimobi as the governorship candidate in the state.

“Really, there are external forces and pressures from
certain quarters instigating some of the governorship aspirants not to
drop the case against Ajimobi, but I can confirm to you that all that
appears to be changing now because some of them have seen reasons why
they should not destroy the party they all laboured hard to build to
this level,” he said.

He explained that the aggrieved members are now
seeing reasons why they could not afford to allow the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) to continue to govern the state.

Mr. Alli was referring to the allegation that three
of the aggrieved governorship aspirants of the party, Messrs. Wale
Oyemakinde, Wole Akinboade (both retired professors), and Soji Akanbi,
who are in court to challenge the choice of Mr. Ajimobi, were being
sponsored by Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala to put the party in disarray,
in order for him to realise his re-election ambition.

But the affected ACN members denied this yesterday,
insisting that the allegation was demeaning. Responding on behalf of
their group, Mr. Oyemakinde said he was no match with Alao-Akala and
could not have descended so low to the extent of conniving with him to
destroy ACN.

“How can I descend so low that I would be having a
meeting with Akala to destabilise my party? It is not possible. I have
been in politics many years ago. In terms of education, I am
well-educated and I have more experience than he. As for the hotel
where they said we met with him, I don’t even know the hotel,” Mr.
Oyemakinde said.

He claimed that they still belong to the ACN, vowing never to have anything to do with the PDP.

“We are different in so many ways. Our ideologies are not the same.
How then can I rubbish my enviable political record and my affinity
with progressives now?” He queried.

Dazzled by the
costumes and jewellery of presidential candidates and their wives,
Nigerians seem to have forgotten how things have steadily worsened
since the New Year. Fresh jobs have not been created; doctors are on
strike, and the condition of the Benin-Ore road has infuriated no less
a citizen than the Oba of Benin. Desert encroachment, deforestation and
coastal erosion are squeezing Nigerians into the Middle Belt where
internecine conflict has erupted in the cold hills of Jos. Food is
insecure, sanitation nonexistent and, of course, Shell and Chevron have
not switched off the gas flares in the Niger Delta.

None of these
issues is of any importance in the campaigns to elect or select what
should be a democratic government in Nigeria this year. Nothing, apart
from zoning, succession, future ministerial appointments and contracts
are vital in the run-up to this election. This probably explains why
bombs are popping like champagne corks to emphasise the bitterness of a
fight to the finish.

Innocent civilians,
hypnotised by the delusion of choreographed rallies, have died in bomb
blasts and stampedes. Over 75 million people are now registered to vote
for men and women of questionable competence and integrity.

Speaking in the
erosion-scarred south-east, Goodluck Jonathan was all smiles,
eulogising and flattering the Igbo. He challenged their prodigal sons
in the United States of America to “come home and assist in the task of
nation-building.” But Mr Jonathan was not explicit on what
opportunities the economy would present to any returnee professionals;
nor did he give an insight into how his government would address those
inequities at home that might have contributed to their migration.

Jonathan’s beloved
Igbo are not only in the US and the UK. Some are adamantly making their
way across the hot Sahara, searching for a better life in North Africa,
ultimately hoping to cross the Mediterranean. Many are largely unaware
of the implosions that await them in the Maghreb.

By contrast, the
children of Nigerian leaders sit comfortably in the expensive,
air-conditioned American School in Abuja. Apparently, the kids are
being prepared for an adult life abroad. These are the reasons, apart
from facilitation of money laundering, for the interest by wealthy
Nigerians in dual citizenship. Meanwhile, the majority of registered
voters have no passports, no ID cards, and no birth certificates.

If Nigerian schools
and hospitals are unfit for our lawmakers and their families, it is
testimony to the institutional decay of a nation they misrule. In which
case, such leaders have no moral right to request Nigerians already in
America or elsewhere to return. Any lunatic can construct that logic.

Whether Irish or
Scotsmen, Dutch or Huguenots, Jews or Igbo, people never leave their
place of birth, friends and family, or cultural environment, just for
the hell of it. Social biology and social geography will assist the
more scholarly minded in comprehending the nature of human or even
animal migration. Those much-romanticised “explorers” in history,
including the heroes who “discovered” and colonised Africa and America,
were actually responding to economic hardship, xenophobia, political
and religious persecution To the Diaspora: don’t come home—especially
if you’re not a man or woman for the trenches, or not well-connected.
Nigeria is hard work! Let your head guide your heart. In case you
ignore my advice and decide to make the great leap across the Atlantic,
remember to leave an escape valve. If possible, complete a postgraduate
diploma in Coping with Corrupt and Insensitive Leadership before your
adventurous voyage to the Gulf of Guinea.

In the ongoing
prosecution of the former Edo State governor, Lucky Igbinedion, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says it has sealed off
his two choice mansions located in Abuja.

According to the
commission in the statement signed by its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi,
the two properties sealed are those located on 7, Justice Fatai
Williams Street, Asokoro, Abuja, and 5, Danube Crescent, Maitama,
Abuja. The commission said that the exercise was carried out on the
heels of a forfeiture order granted the EFCC on Tuesday, March 1 ,
2011, by a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Claiming that the
seizure of the two is just the beginning of the exercise as directed by
the court, presided over by Justice Mohammed Idris, which authorised
the commission to seize 11 choice properties traced to the former
governor. The properties are spread over Benin , Lagos, Abuja, and
London. The exercise, which began in Abuja yesterday, March 8, 2011, is
expected to cover those in other cities in the coming days.

The EFCC team
comprising operatives from the Assets Forfeiture Unit of the
commission, met with occupants of the two properties located in the
Asokoro and Maitama districts of Abuja.

It would be
recalled that Justice Idris, had, after considering an ex-parte
application by a counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, granted the
forfeiture order which now authorises the EFCC to seize the properties.

Igbinedion and six
others are facing a 66-count charge bordering on money laundering and
mismanagement of public funds amounting to about N3.2 billion.The other
accused persons are Patrick Eboigbodin, Michael Igbinedion, and four
firms: Gava Corporation Limited; Romrig Nigeria Limited; PML Securities
Limited; and PML( Nigeria) Limited.

The commission had
filed fresh charges against Mr. Igbinedion, who is accused of
mismanaging N25 billion belonging to the state after he was earlier
left off the hook on a basis of plea bargaining. He was charged along
with six others at the Federal High Court, Benin, by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

At a previous court
session, Mr. Igbinedion had been ordered by Justice Adamu Hobon, of the
Federal High Court, Benin, to physically appear in court on March 22,
2011, or be summoned through a bench warrant, due to his absence from
court during the first hearing.

Counsel to EFCC,
Rotimi Jacobs, had pleaded with the court to issue an order for a bench
warrant against Mr. Igbinedion and others, for failing to appear
personally for the trial. He argued that “in a serious criminal matter
such as this, they cannot sit in the comfort of their homes and say
their lawyers will say it for them.”

EFCC stated that, in line with the forfeiture order granted by the
court, the seized assets are: a block of four flats at No 43, Etete
Road, Benin City; a property housing Chicken Republic along Sapele
Road, Benin City; a property at No 3, Boundary Road, Benin City; a
building at No 20B, Estate Road, Benin City; a building along Ugbor
Police Station Road, Benin City; a mansion at Asokoro, Abuja; a mighty
house at neighbourhood of Etete and Ugbor, Benin City; Sheraton Hotel
at Government House Road, Benin City; a property at No 55C, Adebisi
Omotola Close, off Samuel Adedoyin Street, Victoria Island, Lagos; a
property at No 5, Danube Crescent, Maitama, Abuja; and a house at No
29, Sheldon Avenue, Highgate, London.

The Presidential
Campaign Council (PCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said
yesterday it is still weighing the option of its candidate, President
Goodluck Jonathan, participating in a presidential debate.

The director of
media and publicity of the PCC, Abba Dabo, in a chat with journalists
in Abuja, explained that the body has not made up its mind because of
several requests by the sponsors, some of which he said are not vibrant.

He said over five
different organisations have approached the council for debate and that
some of them merely want only four presidential candidates to
participate.

He listed some of
those that have approached the council to include NN24, Channels TV,
and Nigerian Presidential Debate Council (in collaboration with the
Nigeria Union of Journalists.

“Some of them said
only four candidates and we say why. What criteria are you using? Why
not all the candidates? Why do you think this one is important and not
the other one? Again, some of them don’t have the reach. But we are
still looking at the format the debate will take,” Mr. Dabo said.

The PCC spokesman
also denounced the presidential candidate of the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), Muhammadu Buhari, for asking Nigerians to
lynch anyone who attempts to rig the forthcoming elections.

Stating that though
Mr. Jonathan has already responded to Mr. Buhari’s call, the council
spokesman said there are other ways to check rigging without
necessarily taking people’s lives.

Not to die for

He said the PDP
will not be involved in the rigging of election, but that the party and
the council felt the CPC candidate has no right to incite Nigerians.

“He is contesting
to be the president, most likely he is not going to win. Nobody in this
country should incite the electorate to kill.

“That is why in
contrast to what he said, the president said his wanting to be the
president is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. It is an attitudinal
thing. We feel very, very strongly about people of his calibre inciting
Nigerians to do that, especially in an atmosphere like this.

“A little spark is
all it takes to cause a mayhem. It is something that had to be brought
to his attention so that it is not repeated. I understand prominent
Nigerians have approached him to say they were really not happy with
what he is doing,” Mr. Dabo said.

He, however,
advised Nigerians to protect their votes after casting them, since,
according to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
has made enough arrangement to ensure that the elections are
transparent.

“Everybody should
vote and make sure that your vote is protected, but it doesn’t mean
kill. There are enough sanctions; there are enough arrangements made by
INEC to ensure that these things are free and fair. People who are
going to win are going to win fairly and squarely,” Mr. Dabo stated.

Mr. Dabo also
condemned the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, for organising
counter rallies when Mr. Jonathan and the PDP presidential campaign
train came to Lagos State.

“Look at what happened in Lagos for instance. They knew the
president was going to come in and have his campaign, but Fashola
mobilised and had four counter campaign rallies. I cannot understand
how a commissioner of police would allow that. Why don’t you wait till
the president has gone? It is just to cause confusion,” he further said.

Th e p r e s i d e n t i a l cndidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in the forthcoming general elections, Nuhu Ribadu, has promised that if elected as president, his administration will ensure that the north-east sub-region gets its fair share of federal presence, assuring that the issue of oil exploration in the region will be revisited. Mr. Ribadu who was in Bauchi for the presidential campaign and flag-off of the north-east zonal rally of the party, declared that Nigerians are tired of the negative rule of the PDP and will flush it out in the next general election, expressing optimism that his party will form the next government at all levels in the country.

On the issue of corruption, the ACN presidential candidate also said that his administration will fight corruption among all Nigerians, no matter their status in the society. He stressed that Nigeria has enough resources to go round everybody but a privileged few have made all the available resources theirs to the detriment of the majority who are poor. He then called on Nigerians to vote for all the candidates of the ACN at all levels in order to have good governance that will be responsible to all in terms of revenue sharing anddevelopment plans.

In his address, former Lagos State governor, Ahmed Tinubu, assured that the ACN is ready to fight the PDP for the control of the country becauseaccording to him, “People are desirous of change and it is only ACN that can give them the required quality leadership that will bring about positive developmental change in the country”. The national chairman of the party, Bisi Akande, while presenting the party’s flag to all the candidates in the north-east zone, called on the electorate to vote for them in order to bring about positive change in the zone stressing that the PDP has failed to deliver to Nigerians the desired dividends of democracy in the last 12 years of its being inpower.

The Ogun State
governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party {PDP}, Tunji
Olurin yesterday said the defection of supporters of the state
governor, Gbenga Daniel to another political party, marked an end to
the political relevance of Mr Daniel.

Mr Olurin, said at
a press conference in Abeokuta, where he was formally introduced to the
general public by the party Chairman, Dayo Soremi, that the movement of
Daniel’s political machinery to Peoples Party of Nigeria is “confusion
per excellence.” He said the decision of Mr Daniel to remain in the PDP
while his supporters move to a rival party proves that the governor is
in a quandary. “Since Mr Daniel is still in PDP and his structure in
another party, it’s a dilemma for him, where is his exco? Its all
confusion per excellence,” he said.

The governorship
candidate said he will declare his assets before taking over as
governor if he wins the April elections. Mr Olurin insisted that it was
Mr Daniel who begged him to contest the governorship race, pleading
with him for two years.

“Gbenga Daniel
brought me out. He can’t deny that. He pressurized me for two years,
saying after assessing me, he found out that I have the experience.

After the Abuja
judgement, I was the first to write Daniel extending my hands of
fellowship, asking him to join me to move Ogun State forward,’ the PDP
flagbearer said at the crowded conference.

His own man

On insinuations
that he may be under the control of some people if he wins, Mr Olurin
said he was not a novice considering that he had governed two states
during his career in the military. He argued that if he could be in
charge of troops from seven nations as ECOMOG Commander, it was
ridiculous to expect him to be under the sway of anyone when he becomes
governor of a state.

‘Don’t underrate my intelligence. This would not be my first
assignment. I was ECOMOG Commander with seven nations under me, I was
never teleguided, but was in the forefront of war,” he said. “I have my
own mind. Be assured that nobody can push me around. I can’t be
teleguided. I ruled Oyo State, which is three times bigger than Ogun
and nobody teleguided me. I was in Ekiti and my records are still
there.”