Femi Fani-Kayode, Special Assistant (Public Affairs) To President Obasanjo 2003-2006. Photo Credit: femifanikayode.org

By NAL staff writer

Both the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade and Femi Fani-Kayode, former special assistant to the president (Olusegun Obasanjo) on public affairs lobbied American Ambassador, John Campbell to seek the support of Washington D.C for the former president botched third term plan in 2006.

Leaked U.S diplomatic cable reveals that the Ooni met with Amb. Campbell at the Oba’s Lagos residence on February 25 206 “to make the case for U.S. support for a third term for President Obasanjo.”Also identified as present at the meeting  by the ambassador were next in line to Ooni throne, Tokunbo Sijuade and Fani-Kayode, who often acted as Obasanjo spokesman.

According to Amb. Campbell, the Ooni and his nephew, Fani-Kayode argued that a U.S support for Obasanjo third term was crucial to maintaining Nigeria’s “stability and consolidation of the economic reform program and the war on corruption.”

“The Ooni argued Obasanjo was the only leader capable of holding Nigeria together.  Among other achievements, he credited Obasanjo with combating corruption and improving Nigeria’s international reputation; increasing Nigeria’s foreign reserves from $1 billion to $32 billion; and reducing Nigeria’s debt.  The Ooni said that only Obasanjo could play the critical referee role needed to keep the North and South of Nigeria together, and of potential presidential candidates, only Obasanjo was above pay-offs and graft.  He named Rivers State Governor Peter Odili as the President’s only possible Successor in the future, but claimed the President himself needed more time in power to consolidate democratic institutions and the economic reform program,” Amb. Campbell said.

The ambassador summarized Fani-Kayode persuasion for a U.S backing of Obasanjo plot  thus; “He [Fani-Kayode]said Obasanjo had begun the process of attracting foreign investment and was being asked by top business leaders to stay in office.  He [Fani-Kayode] noted the lack of viable alternatives to an Obasanjo third term and the resulting instability should the President leave office in 2007.”

Fani-Kayode had repeatedly denied supporting the former president third term ambition. In a recent publication (published by print and online news source) and titled ‘Four Blunders Obasanjo Committed in Office,’ Fani-Kayode referred to Obasanjo’s third term plot as the “the second biggest mistake” made by the former president while in office.

“Not one of us [that is the Fani-Kkayode caucus that includes Nasir el-Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Akin Osuntokun, Frank Nweke Jr., Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Oby Ezekwesili, and lawal Batagarawa] spoke in favour of the Third Term Agenda. Check the records.”

“People that were involved with Third Term are people like late Mohammed Waziri, Andy Uba, Ex-Governor Saminu Turaki; the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, ex-Governor James Ibori and characters like that. Our group was known as the intellectual group within that government. We were not part of it,” so Fani-Kayode claimed.

The third term plot was botched by anti-Obasanjo coalition spearheaded by the former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar [with former Head of States Ibrahim Babaginda and Abdulsalami Abubakar doing background works] and some members of the national assembly.

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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000302 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR AF/W
STATE FOR INR/AA 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV NI
SUBJECT: OONI OF IFE REQUESTS U.S. THIRD TERM ENDORSEMENT
FOR PRESIDENT OBASANJO 
REF: ABUJA 430 
Classified By: Ambassador John Campbell for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
-------
Summary
------- 
¶1.  (S/NF)  The Ooni of Ife requested a meeting with the
Ambassador in Lagos on February 25 to make the case for U.S.
support for a third term for President Obasanjo.  One of the
President's special advisors, Femi Fani-Kayode, also
attended, bolstering the Ooni's arguments and giving them a
Presidential stamp.  The Ambassador replied that the U.S. in
principle supports term limits as part of the process of
strengthening democracy and opening the political process.
While acknowledging that any country had the right to amend
its constitution, friends of Nigeria would seek assurance and
evidence that the process was open, transparent, and
conducted according to the rule of law. He also emphasized
the importance of credible elections in 2007, and expressed
concern at the lack of visible progress in preparation for
them.  Both the Ooni and Fani-Kayode reiterated that the
President was the only man capable of keeping Nigeria stable
and on the right track.  Should the President not seek a
third term, the Oni predicted a dark future for Nigerian
unity.  See para 9 for comment. End Summary. 
-----------------------------------
Background on Meeting, Participants
----------------------------------- 
¶2.  (C)  The Ooni of Ife, the senior traditional ruler of
Yoruba people world-wide, had asked the Ambassador to lunch
at his Lagos residence to discuss what he described as "a
matter important to the Presidency".  There was none of the
usual hype--the copious attendants and formulaic homage
rituals that usually surrounds the Ooni.  Instead, the Ooni
was accompanied only by his nephew, Femi Fani-Kayode, and his
son, Toks Sijuwade.  Fani-Kayode is the President's Special
Assistant for Public Affairs and has acted as his spokesman.
Toks Sijuwade is widely considered to be the son who will
succeed the Ooni. The presence of the President's
spokesperson and the Ooni's presumed successor both
emphasized the close connection between the southwest's
paramount traditional ruler and the President and gave the
meeting added weight.  President Obasanjo himself is a Yoruba
and pays public respect to the Ooni as the paramount Yoruba
traditional ruler.  He also involves himself
deeply--interferes, some say--in traditional Yoruba
chieftaincy issues.  At the conclusion of lunch, the Otunba
Ojorah of Lagos, the chairman of the AGIP board and a
traditional ruler subordinate to the Ooni, also appeared. 
----------------------------------------
Ooni of Ife Lays Out Third Term Argument
---------------------------------------- 
¶3.  (C)  The Ooni argued Obasanjo was the only leader capable
of holding Nigeria together.  Among other achievements, he
credited Obasanjo with combating corruption and improving
Nigeria's international reputation; increasing Nigeria's
foreign reserves from $1 billion to $32 billion; and
reducing Nigeria's debt.  The Ooni said that only Obasanjo
could play the critical referee role needed to keep the North
and South of Nigeria together, and of potential presidential
candidates, only Obasanjo was above pay-offs and graft.  He
named Rivers State Governor Peter Odili as the President's
only possible Successor in the future, but claimed the
President himself needed more time in power to consolidate
democratic institutions and the economic reform program. 
¶4.  (S/NF)  The Ooni also claimed Obasanjo was the only man
capable of managing the inherent instability in the Delta
region.  He said the President, after consulting the Director
General of the State Security Service, the DG of the Nigerian
National Security Agency, and the head of the Defense
Intelligence Agency, had approved in principle a contract
with Saladin Security Ltd. to train and advise the Nigerian
military on security matters in the Delta.  (Note.  According
to Toks Sijuwade, Saladin Security had provided an armory for
ECOMOG and security networks for the British in Iraq and
Afghanistan.  He said the President was speaking with
Saladin's David Stuart Gay and David Walker and would make an
arrangement for Saladin to provide assistance to the Federal
Government of Nigeria (FGN) in the Delta by early March.  End
Note.) 
LAGOS 00000302  002 OF 003 
¶5.  (C)  As soon as the Ooni finished what appeared to be a
standard list of approved third-term arguments, Femi
Fani-Kayode eagerly took the lead.  He said Obasanjo had
begun the process of attracting foreign investment and was
being asked by top business leaders to stay in office.  He
noted the lack of viable alternatives to an Obasanjo third
term and the resulting instability should the President leave
office in 2007. The Ooni interjected that absent a third
term, a coup is likely.  Fani-Kayode repeatedly defended the
President's integrity, saying that he was above the
corruption, bribery and intimidation that are characteristic
of much of Nigeria's political life. 
------------------------------
Ooni Requests U.S. Endorsement
------------------------------ 
¶6.  (S/NF) At the end of his comments, the Ooni said Obasanjo
would need at least another 5-7 years for his reforms and
initiatives to take root--and that Obasanjo should remain in
power that long.  He specifically asked the Ambassador if and
how the U.S. might assist in facilitating the third term. 
¶7.  (S/NF)  In response, the Ambassador noted that without
any explicit statement made by the President that he wished
to remain in office, and with a constitutionally-imposed
presidential limit of two terms, the third term issue remains
hypothetical.  The U.S. in principle favors term limits as
opening the political process and strengthening democratic
institutions.  The Ambassador recalled that the U.S. had
imposed term limits by constitutional amendment following the
Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency.  The ambassador expressed
concern about the lack of visible progress in the
preparations for the elections scheduled for 2007.  When the
Ooni raised the possibility of Nigerian constitutional
revision, the Ambassador acknowledged that countries had the
right to change their constitutions.  However, he continued,
should such an effort be undertaken, Nigeria's friends would
be watching closely: Was the process open and transparent and
conducted according to the rule of law, or was it done
through intimidation and bribery. 
--------------------------------------------- ------
The Ooni Makes Further Arguments for the Third Term
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
¶8.  (S/NF)  The Ambassador asked whether a third term would
be de-stabilizing, given that the North, the South East and
the South-South believe that it is their turn for the
presidency.  To the contrary, the Ooni replied, only Obasanjo
could maintain stability.  He said he had polled other
traditional leaders, especially in the North, and he was
confident that a third Obasanjo presidential term enjoyed
considerable support. Only Obasanjo, he continued, had the
personal strength, integrity and ability to keep Nigeria
together.  The Ooni quoted the Kano State Speaker of the
House as saying that the "heavens will not fall" if the
Southwest (Obasanjo's native region and the Ooni's Yoruba
heartland) keeps the Presidency.  He noted Obasanjo had a
mixed cabinet with many ministers coming from the North and
the East. 
-------
Comment
------- 
¶9.  (S/NF)  The Ooni and Fani-Kayode represented themselves
as speaking on behalf of the President, and they want
explicit American support for a third term.  The arguments
they used are familiar:  stability and consolidation of the
economic reform program and the war on corruption.  Already
on the street rumors are rife of bribery, intimidation and
coercion by the President's supporters to build support in
the National Assembly and state governments for a
constitutional amendment to permit a third term.  Mission has
already reported on the lack of concrete progress in
preparation for the elections (reftel), scheduled for the
spring, 2007.  Both Embassy Abuja and ConGen Lagos have also
reported on the wide-spread view that pursuit of the third
term option would be destabilizing all over the country, but
especially in the North, the South-East and the South-South,
all of which believe it is their region's turn for the
presidency. Many mission interlocutors anticipate that an
unambiguous sign of President Obasanjo's intention to stay in
power could well lead to his removal.  New to us was
discussion of FNG engagement of a British private security
company, Saladin, to help resolve the Delta crisis. End
Comment. 
LAGOS 00000302  003 OF 003 
¶10.  (U)  This cable has been cleared and approved by Embassy
Abuja.
HOWE