This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

251411Z May 06

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000714 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV NI THIRDTERM
SUBJECT: SENATOR DANJUMA TALKS ABOUT OBASANJO THIRD TERM 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for Reason 1.4 (D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (C) During a May 22 conversation, Edo State Senator Daisy 
Danjuma gave a Senate insider's view of President Obasanjo's 
failed last-ditch efforts to garner her support for his third 
term bid.  Obasanjo personally pleaded with her and her 
husband, Obasanjo's former Defense Minister, for support. 
Both declined.  Regarding deliberations in the Senate, she 
painted a picture of frenzied Obasanjo supporters' attempts 
to alternatively cajole and intimidate third term opponents. 
The third term amendment has splintered the party.  Unless 
Obasanjo is genuine about reconciliation, the party will be 
weakened as many anti-Obasanjo elements are more willing to 
defect.  End summary. 
 
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DANJUMAS REBUFF THE PRESIDENT'S ADVANCES 
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¶2.  (C) Edo State Senator Daisy Danjuma recounted an early 
May telephone call from President Obasanjo regarding the 
third term amendment.  According to Danjuma, Obasanjo first 
solicited her support for the measure.  She responded that 
her husband had already voiced to Obasanjo is opposition. 
There was no way she could publicly oppose her strong-willed 
husband.  "He would throw me out of the house," she told 
Obasanjo.  Then, Obasanjo pleaded with her not to speak 
against the measure on the Senate floor.  She refused this 
request as well, stating that her constituents expected to 
hear from her.  Then, Obasanjo told her he did not want a 
third term but did not want to hand the party to his Vice 
President.  If your husband wanted the job, I would be 
satisfied to retire to my chicken farm, Obasanjo purportedly 
said.  She responded that Obasanjo knew darn well that 
General Danjuma had no interest in being President and that 
the President also had no interest in Danjuma succeeding him. 
 Last, Obasanjo tried to convince her not to persuade other 
Senators to join the anti-third term camp.  She stated that 
she refused that entreaty as well.  In the end, Obasanjo 
muttered something about her being "troublesome," then ended 
the phone call. 
 
¶3.  (C) General Danjuma, a longtime ally who practically 
forced Obasanjo to assume command in 1976 and who backed him 
in 1996, probably enjoys more respect inside the Nigerian 
military than any other retired general, including his former 
subordinates, Obasanjo and Babangida.  The President must 
listen to him and he is one of the few people who can talk 
frankly to the President without fear, Senator Danjuma 
asserted.  As early as last year her husband had warned 
Obasanjo to drop the third term shenanigans and begin to 
identify a suitable successor.  During a more recent 
conversation, General Danjuma firmly iterated his opposition, 
stating he would fight to assure Obasanjo was defeated. 
Because of her husband's clear opposition, the presidency 
started threatening to confiscate his lucrative oil block, 
she asserted. 
 
¶4.  (C) In the lead-up to the decisive vote, she claimed the 
Senate was a buzz of activity.  Money changed hands.  Senator 
Jubril Aminu from Adamawa State, VP Atiku's home state, tried 
to change her mind.  Aminu told her Obasanjo had promised him 
the Vice Presidency in 2007.  Senator Danjuma recounted 
telling Aminu that he was the fourth Senator who had come to 
her claiming Obasanjo had promised them Atiku's seat. 
 
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OBASANJO'S ALLIES SHRINK AWAY, PDP IN DISARRAY 
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¶5.  (C) The third-term campaign had caused a rupture in 
Obasanjo's camp.  Many Obasanjo insiders did not believe in 
it and only went through the motions of supporting it.  Tony 
Anenih of Edo State, Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees 
and another longtime Obasanjo man, told the Senator he had no 
choice but to publicly support the President.  However, he 
opposed the third term gambit and did not try to muscle and 
intimidate people with his usual alacrity. 
 
¶6.  (C) Mrs. Danjuma said the PDP has also been split and 
weakened.  People have lost the fear they had of Obasanjo, 
and now you will start to see their true allegiances, not the 
ones they feigned.  If Obasanjo seeks vengeance for his 
defeat, he will chase people out of the party in droves, she 
predicted.  Unless he allows the party nomination to go to a 
northern candidate, the PDP will break apart, the Senator 
further presaged. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7.  (C) While some Senators have tried to paint this as a 
victory for democracy and begin to extol the virtues of the 
National Assembly, Senator Danjuma was candid in portraying 
this as a play between competing power blocs.  Now, the 
President is reeling from his misadventure, and his room for 
maneuvering is severely abbreviated.  If Danjuma is right, 
Obasanjo could be on the verge of unintentionally presiding 
over the demise of the party he once boasted was the largest 
in Africa.  With her stature rising because of her public 
opposition to Obasanjo, Danjuma will probably have more 
influence than before in the South-South caucus.   Moreover, 
her position that Obasanjo now cannot unilaterally anoint a 
successor is probably representative of South-South thought. 
However, her belief that the Presidency should rotate to the 
North is not representative of South-South thought.  It 
likely has more to do with the influence of her husband who 
is from the Middle Belt section of the North.  End comment. 
BROWNE