VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHOS #0309/01 2011505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201505Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0889
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0477
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS LAGOS 000309 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: AMBASSADOR MEETS CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS AT EKITI 
ROUNDTABLE 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On July 6, the Ambassador participated in a 
roundtable on Democracy and Electoral Reform in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti 
State, hosted by the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD) 
and attended by three other civil society organization (CSO) 
partners.  The roundtable was in part held in reaction to the April 
Ekiti gubernatorial election re-runs.  The NISD Director was the 
U.S. Mission's 2007 DHRF recipient.  At the session, the Ambassador 
stressed the need for the Ekiti CSOs to collaborate towards the goal 
of electoral reform, and recognized the important role they play in 
shining the light on problems in the Ekiti re-runs.  The group 
highlighted how committed voters were to a free process and how 
seriously they monitored the election.  Several key themes emerged 
during the discussion: the need for a truly independent INEC; 
accurate voter registration; educating the electorate; and security 
issues.    Ambassador reiterated the importance of the monitoring 
role of CSOs and encouraged them to continue the good work, and 
offered the support of the U.S. Mission to meet that objective.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On July 6, the Ambassador participated in a roundtable on 
Democracy and Electoral Reform in Ado-Ekiti, hosted by the New 
Initiative for Social Development (NISD) and attended by three other 
civil society organizations (CSO): Mr. Akingbade Emmanuel and Ms. 
Osho A.O. of Justice Development and Peace Center (JDPC), Mr. Tunde 
Asebieko of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr. 
Fumso Adedeyi of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center 
(WARDC).  The Executive Director of NISD, Mr. Abiodun Oyeleye, 
called the Ekiti April 2009 elections, "the worst election in the 
history of Nigeria."  Ambassador told the participants that 
Nigerians must be in the lead and the U.S. Mission will work to 
support CSOs and their partner organizations to initiate positive 
change towards electoral reform in Nigeria.  During the roundtable, 
several key themes were discussed by the participants: the need for 
a truly independent INEC; accurate voter registration; educating the 
electorate; and security issues.  Ambassador offered her thoughts 
from a U.S. Mission perspective on each theme and reiterated the 
Mission's support to each issue in the general democratic message of 
good governance and free and fair elections. 
 
We Need a Truly Independent INEC 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) After opening remarks highlighting the importance of civil 
society and congratulating NISD for their award of the 2007 
Democracy and Human Rights Fund, Ambassador requested the 
participants offer their thoughts on the challenges they face in 
Ekiti to holding free and fair elections.  The first issue raised 
was the need for a truly independent INEC.  The JDPC representative, 
Mr. Emmanuel, stated while it was positive to see citizens involved 
in the struggle to protect their votes by keeping watch at the 
polls, their efforts did not bring about the desired change due to a 
biased INEC interfering in the election.  Mr. Emmanuel said he 
supports a review of the Constitution because as it stands today, 
INEC is not independent, agreeing with the Uwais Report on selecting 
the INEC chairman independently.  Other participants agreed with Mr. 
Emmanuel, stating that fundamental changes such as appointment, 
tenure, and funding of INEC are required, however, they also said 
that amending the Constitution might be difficult and they should 
look at more near-term solutions for immediate impact, while pushing 
for INEC reform in the long-term. 
 
Voter Registration Process Flawed, Manipulated 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) Another challenge to free and fair elections discussed by 
the participants was the manipulation of voter registration records. 
 Mr. Emmanuel of JDPC stated that electoral fraud starts at voter 
registration and the concept of 'one man, one vote' is lost in 
Ekiti.  In response to Ambassador's questions on how CSOs would 
monitor voter registration, Mr. Asebieko of CDHR stated the futility 
of attempting to address voter registration until the issue of an 
independent INEC is addressed.  Mr. Asebieko stated that the voter 
registration centers run by INEC allow individuals to purchase as 
many registration cards as desired, registering as many fictitious, 
and often times, deceased people as they had the money or influence 
to do.  Registering by proxy was cited as a major obstacle to 
electoral reform.  All participants agreed that the voter register 
must be updated, since the old one, which was used in the recent 
elections, was outdated.  The old voter register prevented many 
youth who are now of voting age from participating in the recent 
gubernatorial election.  The participants stated that there are 
inherent motivators to artificially increase voter registration 
counts, and until those are also addressed, the problem will 
continue.  According to Mr. Asebieko, many villages purposely 
 
inflate voter registration counts which positively correlate to 
increased appointments and benefits received for the villages. 
Traditional rulers have little incentive to reform the voter 
registration process if their benefits and appointments are in 
jeopardy. 
 
Educating the Electorate about Fraud 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mr. Asebieko of CDHR stressed the importance of educating 
the electorate of Ekiti state through the efforts of 
non-governmental organizations.  Ambassador asked the participants 
how they intend to reach villages and remote areas of the state with 
their message of reform, and Mr. Asebieko used an example of 
communicating to villagers regarding electoral reform in their own 
dialects.  He stated that during the last election, falsehoods such 
as paying increased taxes if a citizen goes to the polls, kept many 
people away, particularly from village areas.  If the villagers were 
educated early in the process of voting and election monitoring, the 
participants believe that they would not be susceptible to such 
myths.  The participants also stated the need for seminars and 
workshops in villagers' own dialects, as well as television dramas, 
which will have a tremendous impact.  In addition, the participants 
recommended 'train the trainer' programs, where influential village 
elders and youth leaders would be educated on voting and election 
monitoring.  Educating and empowering youth was cited by all 
participants as vital to electoral reform. 
 
Violence, Intimidation Keep Voters Away 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Intimidation of specific segments of the electorate was a 
major issue in the re-runs, according to Mr. Adedeyi of WARDC.  He 
stated that police intimidation of the electorate in support of the 
Action Congress (AC) candidate was widespread across several of the 
wards.  Many voters never showed at the polls due to successful 
scare tactics employed by the police and other heavily armed 
security groups, according to Mr. Adedeyi.  He cited specific 
examples of unprovoked violence and bullying in is organization's 
publication, "Ballots and Bayonet - Unfulfilled Hopes of Ekiti 
Re-Run Elections 2009," distributed to all the participants of the 
roundtable.  The booklet contains specific examples of vehicle 
registration numbers of police and army vehicles used in violent 
incidents. 
 
Ambassador: Local CSOs Need to Take Ownership of Change 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ambassador acknowledged the variety of challenges facing 
CSOs in Ekiti and reiterated the U.S. Mission's supporting role in 
the process and stated that the Nigerian CSOs are the owners of the 
change they desire.  Ambassador pledged to ensure that the Ekiti 
CSOs were involved in the U.S. Mission's programs on electoral 
reform and democracy, as well as furnish them with materials on 
utilizing new media tools effectively for voter awareness. 
Participants expressed appreciation for the U.S. Mission's 
involvement in the roundtable, goodwill of the Ambassador, and the 
continued offer of assistance towards reaching their objectives. 
 
¶8. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Abuja.