At a meeting with the US Ambassador Robin Sanders to discuss his removal from the EFCC, Ribadu told the US ambassador that Obasanjo was good at covering his tracks. He admitted that corruption was worse under Obasanjo. Quoting Ribadu, On former president Obasanjo, the Commissioner said, he really knew how to play the game. Although he created the EFCC and understood its importance for him with the international community, Ribadu explained, that by far and even more than the Abacha days where he was the sole thief, corruption under Obasanjo,s eight years was far worse, because everyone stole, no doubt he did as well. 8 However,
he added, Oba was a political machine and knew how to play the game for the international community, cover his tracks and for good or bad &got it8as regards to what the EFCC's
role was and should be."

SEE FULL CABLE BELOW:

Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07ABUJA2627 2007-12-31 11:55 2011-08-30 01:44 SECRET Embassy Abuja

VZCZCXRO7703
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #2627/01 3651155
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 311155Z DEC 07 ZDK FOR USMISSION UNVIE
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1728
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 8471
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0024

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 ABUJA 002627

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF/W
PASS NSC BOBBY PITTMAN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2017
TAGS: PGOV EFIN ECON NI
SUBJECT: RIBADU: DISCUSSES MOVE ON HIM, YAR,ADUA, IBORI AND
OBASANJO

REF: (A) ABUJA 2618 (B) SANDERS-SILSKI 12-28 EMAILS
(C) SANDERS-GON FONMIN 12/28 TELECON

ABUJA 00002627 001.2 OF 004


Classified By: Ambassador Robin Sanders for Reasons 1.4 (b, c, & d).

¶1. (S) Summary: Ambassador had 4-hour private discussion with
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman (EFCC)
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on the evening of December 28 at her
residence to hear his views on the recent announcement that
he will be transferred from the EFCC to the country,s
leadership school, the National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies (NIPSS). Ribadu took the opportunity to
cover not only the politics behind this move, but also spent
several hours discussing a range of EFCC pending cases that
he wanted to share, including his personal views on
Yar,Adua, former President Obasanjo, recently indicted
former Delta State Governor Ibori, and the illicit enrichment
open cases on the Police Inspector General Mike Okiro and
Attorney General Aondoakaa. It seemed that he wanted someone
outside of the EFCC to know the details of active
investigations as a possible failsafe given the current
negative political climate surrounding his pending transfer.
Ribadu also said he planned to show up to his office on
December 31, 2007, as usual and would continue to do so )-
unless he was physically blocked -- until the effective date
of his transfer (February 2008). Ribadu said, &without a
doubt, yes,8 the warrant on Ibori was the seminal action
that made Yar,Adua support the transfer. He added that he
worried that Yar,Adua was not &strong enough8 to balance
the pressures on him from his inner circle -- many he had
already blocked from illicit enrichment such as his Chief
Economic Advisor Tanimu Yakabu Kursi and Mrs. Yar,Adua. The
Ambassador expressed to him the U.S.,s strong concerns over
the tenor of events and how unsettling this is given what
appears to be a reversal of Yar,Adua,s strong
anti-corruption messages while in Washington. Coming on the
heels of the U.S. visit, this action has hurt our initial
sense of his commitment on these key democracy pillars. The
EFCC Chair was pleased to hear of the international interest
in the situation and added that &anything8 is still
possible in terms of a reversal as Yar,Adua tends to respond
to the last person who speaks with him. He thought pressure
from the international community could be useful. Ribadu
said if the transfer prevails then his Lagos deputy, Lamorde,
would likely be brought up to serve as Acting. He then
praised the USG training provided by Treasury,s FinCen, and
said whether he was at the EFCC or not, the USG should
continue its efforts to help as &his team8 was dedicated
and committed. Ribadu said that the EFCC needed a few more
concrete tools such as a Crime Center, housing a data base on
all criminal activity, and hoped the U.S. would help on this.
Ambassador provided the EFCC Chair with all her contact
information, noted she had a pending weekend response call
from the President, and told him that he had active
supporters who would be following this issue, notwithstanding
the Ambassador.

¶2. (S) Following Yar,Adua,s positive U.S. trip, fairly
upbeat sentiments by Nigerians at year,s end on his tenure,
and his own end of year national address calling on adherence
to transparency, not only do we need to be concerned about
this action, but also what appears to be other steps against
the EFCC. Even if Ribadu is gone or if ours or other efforts
prevail, there are potentially other possible actions on the
horizon to reduce the EFCC,s prowess by such as removing
others on Ribadu,s team, and merging it with other less
focused and effective entities such as the Independent
Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). Whatever his motives,
Yar,Adua has made a major political misstep as his tribunal
results loom near. End Summary

Ribadu: Discusses the Run-up to his Transfer:
--------------------------------------------

¶3. (S) The Ambassador had a 4-hour discussion (8pm-midnight)
at her residence December 29 with about-to-be transferred
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chair Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu. Rumors began on the move late December 27,
followed up by an official press announcement by Police
Inspector General Mike Okiro December 28. Ribadu was
seconded from the police senior leadership in April 2003 to
lead the then newly created EFCC by former President
Obasanjo. Ribadu is officially being transferred to the
country,s National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies (NIPSS) in February 2008. Ribadu told Ambassador
that the transfer was not only official, but had been
approved by President Yar,Adua. The Ambassador asked
Nigeria,s anti-corruption czar if he thought that there

ABUJA 00002627 002 OF 004


could be a reversal of the pending transfer if there was
significant outcry. Ribadu said in his dealings to date with
the President, that he did not view him as a &strong man8
(said in both the sense of not only his health, but his style
and demeanor), and that he is easily swayed by the last
person that speaks with him. He added that he did not see
Yar,Adua as corrupt and was a &nice guy,8 but said quite
frankly that he thought he was &weak,8 as a result of his
low key personality, his lack of international exposure, and
his lack of a political base. Ribadu said Yar,Adua is very
&worried8 about his election being overturned and is
getting advice from &some whose hands are tarnished with
illicit enrichment8 on how to secure a positive outcome of
the pending February or March 2008 tribunal decision. The
EFCC czar then commented that despite his overall problems
with the judiciary as &judges were always being bribed, it
had held up democracy more than some of the other government
branches.8 &The judiciary and judges here are very
corruptible and this corruption has played a role in some of
the tribunal cases to date,8 he commented. &Nigeria needs
something in its constitution to put a check and balance on
the judiciary.8

¶4. (S) The Ambassador then asked whether the warrant on the
former Delta State Governor Ibori was the trigger on his
ouster now, given that pressure to remove him was not new.
Ribadu said without a doubt &yes.8 He added that Ibori had
promised to help Yar,Adua several weeks ago (prior to the
latter,s Washington trip) with the tribunal if he got the
EFCC Chair off his back. Yar,Adua had resisted to date, but
as his tribunal results loom near in early February or March
2008, the President has a sense that the verdict could go
either way (ref a). He is very unsettled about his
prospects, Ribadu noted. Without direct reference to the
Foreign Minister, who mentioned this issue in a December 28
telecon, the Ambassador asked Ribadu what his relationship
had been with the President up to this point (ref C). Ribadu
then described in detail his last meetings with both the
President and separately with Ibori.

¶5. (S) The EFCC chief noted that the President had always
wanted him to &cool down8 a bit as he thought he could do
things more &quietly.8 But despite this, he was always
able to reach the President and they never had cross words.
However, he added he felt that the support he would need to
bring in some of the bigger political fish was not there
)primarily because &the President does not have his own
political soldiers within the PDP, the media, or among
Nigeria,s novo rich power brokers, nor his own thugs or the
overall clout of former President Obasanjo.8 Ribadu said
that Ibori had also tried to bribe him to drop the
investigation, coming to him with a box that contained $ 15
million (USD) in cash as an offering to leave him alone.
Ribadu laughing said, &can you imagine $15 million in cash
in a box; this will be used against him in the trial. We
have it locked up as evidence.8 He added that they have
thus far found only $300 million (USD) that Ibori has stolen,
but knows that he stole much more, estimating that during his
eight years in office he took roughly 60 per cent of the
Delta State treasury for his own use, including buying three
planes and ownership in several public and private
corporations.

¶6. (S) Turning back to President Yar,Adua, the Ambassador
asked who the bad apples around Yar,Adua were and was there
anyone in his inner circle that he would deem not only
credible but also incorruptible. Ribadu said without a doubt
the most corruptible person near the President, and one of
his own biggest nemeses, was Chief Economic Advisor Tanimu
Yakubu Kursi. The anti-graft czar said he had already
blocked several attempts by Yakubu to enrich himself from
government coffers, and had not only blocked him but also
Mrs. Yar,Adua. (Note: neither name as far as we know as
come up before in this light, but Ribadu was vehement on
Yakubu, saying in many ways he was worse than the Attorney
General, and after being pressed a bit on who the other
person was, he gave up the name of Mrs. Yar,Adua as the
other person in the inner circle he had blocked once).
&Yakubu is smart, but corrupt, and played a key role in this
transfer issue,8 he added. Continuing, the Ambassador asked
if there are any good guys in the Villa? He said the only
person who was truly respectable, honest and trying always to
do the right thing was the President,s Chief of Staff, Maj.
Gen. Abdullahi Mohammed, but he likes to stay away from both
policy and politics.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/wikileaks-obasanjo-even-more-abacha-days-corruption-under-obasanjos-eight-years-was-far-wo

this should not be news really

Na today?
OBJ=RIBADU=TINUBU=PDP+ACN=ITT=FULL BLOWN CORRUPTION.
Is my equation right?

If OBJ was more corrupt than Abacha, then how come the country prospered under his rule (especially the non-oil sector, so you cannot just point to high oil prices or something) and floundered for the 20 years prior to that?

I'm not necessarily trying to defend OBJ here, just genuinely curious.

@ ekt_bear truly the country did make progress then no doubt but You seem to have forgotten that there was more money flowing around then,besides that is no bench mark for measuring transperency.This scoop was from an insider very close to the presidency.

This is a mere VERIFICATION of something we always knew.


I guess this is the part where we rain curses on OBJ's baboon head


May he and other fellow looters rot in hell!! They can always hold hands and "kumbaya" collectively as they roast !!


Whoo hoo