Abdullahi Tasiu Abubakar and Habeeb I. Pindiga
1 December 2010
London and Abuja — Commonwealth officials were in June 2009 anticipating that a "constitutional crisis" would befall Nigeria because of President Umaru Yar'adua's "sudden death", according to secret US diplomatic cables posted by whistle blower Wikileaks yesterday.
The website released 251,287 documents detailing what it calls US 'spying' activities around the world.
One of the correspondences from the US embassy in London dated June 11, 2009, eleven months before Yar'adua died, quoted a Commonwealth official as saying that the group was "keeping a watchful eye on Nigeria because of the constitutional crisis that could ensue if President Yar'adua dies."
The cable said during a discussion with an American diplomat same day, Commonwealth Political Director Amitav Banerji "indicated the Commonwealth is keeping a watchful eye on Nigeria because of the constitutional crisis that could ensue if President Yar'adua dies."
It added: "President Yar'adua's sudden death has the potential to prompt a constitutional crisis. The Commonwealth would like to see Nigeria more active in the region and in the Commonwealth across the board. Banerji noted that Yar'adua did not make a single intervention at the last CHOGM, contrasting sharply with former President Obasanjo who had been active in Commonwealth affairs."
Wikileaks revelation shows that Nigeria is among the top 20 countries where secret, confidential and unclassified cables for US diplomacy originated from, ahead of even Britain.
Nigeria is one of the key centres of the United States' exchange of secret embassy cables for its geopolitical and international diplomacy.
Many leading international media have for the last three days been awash with top stories obtained from the online portal about the underhand deals and secret US correspondences and among top government leaders around the world.
The breakdown shows that there were at least 190 secret cables, 1,463 confidential documents and 1,372 unclassified cables from the Abuja embassy while Lagos consulate sent at least 73 documents, about 780 confidential and 634 unclassified cables, says the whistle blower. View the original article here
Source: Daily Trust
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