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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000246 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL SCUL KPAO SOCI NI
SUBJECT: TEXT OF NIGERIAN INFORMATION MINISTER'S MEMORANDUM TO 
CABINET COLLEAGUES 
 
REF: ABUJA 0137 
 
¶1. (SBU) As reported in Reftel, Nigerian Information and 
Communications Minister Dora Akunyili submitted a memorandum to 
Cabinet colleagues at the February 3 Federal Executive Council 
Meeting requesting that President Yar'Adua hand over power to Vice 
President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President.  She later 
withdrew the memorandum after receiving orders to do so.  The text 
subsequently appeared in local newspapers, despite a reported order 
by Secretary to the Government of the Federation Mahmud Yayale 
Ahmed not to disclose publicly the document's contents. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) U.S. Mission forwards the text of this memorandum, 
entitled "State of the Nation," which Minister Akunyili forwarded 
to the Ambassador on February 5, 2010: 
 
 
 
Begin Text: 
 
 
 
State of the Nation 
 
 
 
(1)  I want to start my humble submission by stating that I am a 
100 percent loyalist of President Yar'Adua.  He appointed all of us 
because he trusts us and wants us to help him to run government 
effectively and efficiently.  Mr. President has given all of us 
seated in this chamber the opportunity to serve our nation as 
members of this council.  I believe that in the choice of all of 
us, as individuals and group, Mr. President must have considered 
our ability to guide him aright to serve our people better, promote 
and protect the constitution in line with the oath of office taken 
before him in this chamber by each and every one of us.  President 
Yar'Adua is very dear to me just as he is to all of you. 
 
 
 
(2) We are all aware of what has been happening in Nigeria 
especially as it concerns the issue of making the Vice President an 
acting President.  There have been debates for and against. 
 
 
 
(3) Some have argued that there is no vacuum and that it is ok for 
the Vice President to function as Vice President, not as Acting 
President pending the return and recovery of Mr. President.  For 
the proponents of this theory, I want to remind them that Permanent 
Secretaries had been waiting to be sworn in for over two months 
now.  Consequently, many ministries are without Permanent 
Secretaries including my ministry.  As it is today, the Vice 
President cannot take any document to National Assembly.  In a very 
desperate situation like the recent Jos crisis, the Vice President 
deployed troops to Plateau, but many have openly said that he does 
not have the right because there cannot be two Commanders-in-Chief 
at a time. 
 
 
 
(4) Just recently, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta 
(MEND) has opted out of the amnesty and resumed hostility.  They 
argued that they have been kept in limbo since the President took 
ill and they appeared to have been abandoned since nobody could 
talk to them or keep the promise made to them.  Our economy is once 
more being threatened. 
 
 
 
(5)  The past Chief Justice of the Federation swore in his 
successor for the first time in the history of our nation.  The 
power vacuum at that level has also compounded our 'poor image' at 
the international level because of our failure to rise to 
international expectations, commitments and engagements that 
require the presence of our President.  Many of those opportunities 
 
ABUJA 00000246  002 OF 003 
 
 
have existed in the past 70 days that I do not need to recount.  I 
do not need to repeat the uncomplimentary statements made by United 
States, United Kingdom and EU concerning the current state of 
affairs in Nigeria. 
 
 
 
(6)  There has been persistent agitation by the public for members 
of the Federal Executive Council to do something. Nigerians expect 
us to rise to this challenge on behalf of our President as the 
leader of this administration.  Some eminent citizens have spoken. 
They include former Heads of States and others who have served our 
nation in various capacities.  The Senate has also taken a position 
of which we are all aware.  The looming crisis in the system is 
over boiling.  Our hard earned democracy is being threatened by the 
day. 
 
 
 
(7)  What went wrong?  We love our President but we should remember 
that he is not infallible.  Before he left Nigeria he had a moral 
and constitutional obligation to officially inform the Senate and 
hand over the mantle of leadership to the Vice President pending 
his return and recovery.  That did not happen. Yes, the mistake has 
been made by our Boss and our brother.  Mr. President is ill and 
did not choose to be sick.  But while we continue to pray for his 
recovery, we should try to right the wrong. 
 
 
 
(8)  Some have argued that he left the country in a hurry.  This 
argument has been punctured by the fact that he signed the 
Appropriation Bill for National Assembly.  If he could sign the 
Bill, why did he not sign a letter for Vice President to act on his 
behalf until he is well enough? 
 
 
 
(9)  We have a local proverb that says that "A goat does not get 
strangulated by the rope used in tying it when an adult is 
present."  We are all in a better position to know that the polity 
is overheated to a frightening level.  Posterity will judge us 
harshly if we do not positively intervene to resolve this logjam. 
 
 
 
(10)  I wish to call on the Federal Executive Council to act now in 
the best interest of our dear President and our dear Nation. We 
also need to save ourselves from shame because our stand is 
becoming very embarrassing.  He has been away for about 70 days 
now.  Even if he returns tomorrow, is it not better for him to rest 
and recover before taking over from the Vice President? 
 
 
 
(11)  We need to do what is morally right and constitutional for 
the President to officially hand over to the Vice President to 
function as Acting President. 
 
 
 
(12)  I am not saying that President Yar'Adua should resign or 
condemn him for being sick.  He did not choose to be sick.  We will 
continue to pray for him, but all I am saying is, let us encourage 
him do the right thing so that our hard earned democracy will not 
be truncated.  Anybody who feels otherwise is unfair to our 
President (who has been preaching the rule of law), and utterly 
unfair to our country. 
 
 
 
(13)  The name of our President and all his achievements are being 
rubbished by this unfortunate debacle.  The President and his 
family are also being put under undue pressure which will not help 
his recovery. 
 
ABUJA 00000246  003 OF 003 
 
 
(14)  If we fail to act now, history will not forgive us.  I rest 
my case. 
 
 
 
Signed: 
 
Prof. Dora Akunyili 
 
Minister of Information and Communications. 
 
 
 
February 3rd, 2010. 
 
 
 
End of Text. 
SANDERS