VZCZCXRO1310
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0431/01 3080603
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030603Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0268
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 9916
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000431 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR GPERSONS, CHAYCOCK 
TREASURY FOR DPETERS, RHALL, RABDULRAZAK 
COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS 
USDOC FOR 3130/USFC/OIO/ANESA/DHARRIS 
STATE PASS USTR FOR LISER, AGAMA 
STATE PASS USAID FOR NFREEMAN, GBERTOLIN 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN, MSTUCKART 
STATE PASS TDA FOR LFITTS, PMARIN 
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ACTION CONGRESS PARTY SWEEPS LAGOS LOCAL ELECTION 
POLL 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: PolOff and PolSpec observed the Lagos State Local 
Government's (LASG) local election on October 11. In the 20 local 
councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), the 
opposition Peoples Democratic Party and All Nigeria Peoples Party 
(ANPP) refused to contest, and expectation of an Action Congress 
(AC) victory was the primary reason behind the low voter turnout. 
Lagos State's ruling AC party swept the polls, prompting criticism 
by opposition parties of the election process as nontransparent. End 
Summary. 
 
LCDAs: Bone of Contention between AC, PDP 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The former Governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu (Action 
Congress Party) created 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) 
in October 2003, citing constitutional provisions which empowered 
state governments to create additional local councils.  The Lagos 
State House of Assembly passed this into law in 2003.  Since then, 
opposition parties, including the PDP and ANPP, had denounced the 
LCDAs' creation as unconstitutional.  They argued that the 1999 
Constitution listed 768 local government areas, including 20 local 
councils in Lagos State; therefore, the National Assembly needed to 
amend the Constitution to create additional local councils before 
Lagos State could take action on the ground. Tinubu and current 
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola maintained that Lagos State 
had strictly complied with constitutional provisions guiding the 
LDCA's creation, but the National Assembly had failed to act 
accordingly. 
 
¶3. (U) Former President Obasanjo (PDP) withheld budgetary 
allocations for Lagos 20 local councils after the LCDAs' creation in 
¶2003. Tinubu challenged Obasanjo's action in the Supreme Court.  The 
Court ruled against Obasanjo's withholding of allocation in the 20 
constitutionally recognized local councils in December 2004. 
However, it held that the 37 LCDAs were not entitled to public 
funding due to their inconclusive status. (Note: President Yar'Adua 
released the withheld fund to the 20 local councils upon his 
assumption of office. End Note) 
 
Court Cases Clear the Way for October Election 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (U) The dispute between the PDP and the AC over the legality of 
the LCDAs postponed the local election from April 2007 to October 
11, 2008.  Leading up to the October 11 election the PDP submitted 
candidates only for the 20 local councils to the Lagos State 
Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).  LASIEC rejected the list 
and insisted that the PDP needed to field candidates in all 57 
councils.  The PDP then sought an injunction against the election in 
Lagos State High Court, but lost its case on October 2 when the 
court cited the Supreme Court's December 2004 decision as the basis 
to rule in favor of LASG.  With less than 10 days before the 
election, the PDP national headquarters directed its Lagos State 
branch not to participate, leaving the Democratic Peoples Alliance 
(DPA) and Accord Party as two primary opposition parties in the 
election.  AC won all the chairman and the councillor positions in 
the election. 
 
Predictably, Voter Turnout Low 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) Apathy and expectation for an AC victory among the voters 
primarily accounted for low voter turnout.  Polling stations, 
scheduled to be open from 8am to 4pm, had between 500 and 1500 
registered voters on the rolls.  During the election monitoring 
exercise of about 40 polling stations on October 11, PolOff and 
PolSpec noted that most polling stations opened from 1000 to 1500 
hour.  With two hours left in the election, around half of the 
ballot boxes observed were virtually empty, and polling agents 
counted on average around 60 ballots per box for the other half.  Of 
the fifty parties represented on the ballot, only party agents from 
the AC, DPA, and Accord parties were present at the polling 
stations.  Most polling stations did not provide voters with any 
means to vote in privacy although they were under LASIEC's 
instruction to do so; only a few provided simple shields on the side 
of the voting area to provide a semblance of privacy.  LASIEC's 
polling agents attributed the low turnout to heavy rain earlier in 
 
LAGOS 00000431  002 OF 002 
 
 
the day and voters' confusion as to which polling unit they had 
registered and at which they could vote. (Comment: Only polling 
agents cited heavy rain and confusion, making it highly unlikely 
that these were the primary reasons for the low voter turnout. End 
Comment) 
 
Civil Society Faults LASIEC 
for Uncompetitive Election 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Civil society leaders faulted LASIEC for holding a 
nontransparent and uncompetitive local election.  Olasupo Ojo, 
President of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, told 
PolOff October 10 that the process had neither been transparent nor 
open from the primaries to the election.  According to Ojo, LASIEC 
had not been forthcoming with information regarding the party 
registration process and the final determination of the election 
date; ultimately, the opposition parties could not properly 
campaign.  AC candidates, he posited, were hand-picked and 
pre-determined to win so they did not bother to campaign.  Atinuke 
Ogundipe, Chairperson for the Lagos State Civil Society Coalition, 
told PolOff October 14 that there existed a great disconnect between 
the voters and the government as evidenced by the low level of 
participation in the local councils and LCDAs, the level of 
government closest to the grassroots.  Ogundipe contended that 
people had no confidence in the electoral system due to the absence 
of any visible reforms.  Professor Mojibayo Fadakinte of the 
University of Lagos, told PolOff October 10 that, while the process 
was admittedly flawed, the majority of the people were happy with 
the LCDAs' creation, generally perceive election to be a mere 
formality, and therefore did not mind an expected AC victory. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: While the relationship between Lagos and the 
Federal Government (FG) reportedly has improved under Governor 
Fashola (Action Congress) and President Yar'Adua, Lagos continues to 
challenge the FG on a host of issues.  With regard to the recent 
local election, Lagos State Government's decision to conduct the 
polls in the disputed 37 LDCAs can be viewed either as a positive 
step to institute democratically-elected local leadership or as an 
AC-orchestrated political gimmick to legitimize its powerbase. 
Although election irregularities were impossible to observe, the low 
voter turnout was due at least in part to the PDP's decision to not 
participate.  However, there is no question that the election 
process is in further need of reforms. End Comment. 
 
¶8. (U) This cable was cleared with Embassy Abuja. 
 
BLAIR