Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria

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ehind bars until he succumbs to what they want him to do.” 155 Similar situations reportedly surrounded the impeachment of Bayelsa State governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and attempts at impeaching several other PDP Governors seen as hostile to the Presidency. 156 155 Human Rights Watch interview with Anambra State legislator, Awka, February 12, 2007. 156 See International Crisis Group, Failed Elections, Failing State?, p. 16, calling for a three-month moratorium on EFCC prosecutions and noting that “Most Nigerians…did not see Obasanjo’s pursuit of these men as a genuine campaign for good government.” 51 Human Rights Watch October 2007
Case Study A: Oyo State This is where democracy starts in Nigeria. This place hosted the first university in West Africa. Everything started here. But the situation is deteriorating and now we have a government of illiterates, we have a politics of hooliganism, of violence, of moneybags. These are the kinds of people Adedibu brought into all levels of government. —Senior Advocate of Nigeria (name withheld), Ibadan 157 Nigeria’s southwestern state of Oyo calls itself Nigeria’s “pace setter,” reflecting a deeply held pride in the state’s reputation as a leader in the fields of commerce and education. Oyo’s capital city of Ibadan is one of the largest commercial centers in West Africa and the University of Ibadan is Nigeria’s oldest and one of its finest. But in recent years, Oyo has also pushed the frontiers of violence and corruption that characterize Nigeria’s nascent “democracy.” The Godfather of Ibadan Chief Lamidi Adedibu has been involved in Oyo politics since the 1950s. His many detractors allege that he got his start as a small-time organizer of political thugs for the Action Group party of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. 158 By the late 1980s, however, he had emerged as a powerful political force through a combination of populist politics, patronage, violence, and extortion. 159 Adedibu is an iconic figure in Nigerian politics, an example of the kind of power to which political godfathers aspire. 160 When Human Rights Watch visited Adedibu’s Ibadan compound in the run-up to the 2007 elections, he held court sprawled across a large chair underneath a tin roof adjacent to his car park, which was crowded with 157 Human Rights Watch interview, Ibadan, February 9, 2007. 158 Ebenezer Obadare, “Lamidi Adedibu ou l’État Entre Contraction et Sous-Traitance,” Politique Africaine, No. 106 (June 2007), pp. 115-116. Chief Awolowo was Nigeria’s most prominent Yoruba politician at independence and one of three men commonly thought of as Nigeria’s triumvirate of political “founding fathers” along with Ahmadu Bello and Nnamdi Azikwe. 159 Ibid, pp. 116-117. 160 While Adedibu’s statewide political influence is immense, many analysts argue that he is a truly dominant force only in Oyo’s capital of Ibadan. Human Rights Watch interviews, Ibadan and Lagos, February and April 2007. Criminal Politics 52
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Nigeria Criminal Politics Violence,
Page 3 and 4: The Nigerian Police and Impunity fo
Page 5 and 6: In 1999, Nigeria’s military relin
Page 7 and 8: to account for their open mobilizat
Page 9 and 10: Recommendations To the government o
Page 11 and 12: To the Nigerian Police Force • Pr
Page 13 and 14: Historical Background and Context N
Page 15 and 16: Many Nigerians initially welcomed t
Page 17 and 18: elections should it choose to do so
Page 19 and 20: Foreign observers and Nigerian civi
Page 21 and 22: undertaken by Human Rights Watch an
Page 23 and 24: killed during the weeks surrounding
Page 25 and 26: and I fell down. After I fell down
Page 27 and 28: dating back to their days at univer
Page 29 and 30: Nnamdi Azikwe campus in Awka had be
Page 31 and 32: Human Rights Watch days later, his
Page 33 and 34: There is no question we can’t rel
Page 35 and 36: over the eight years of the Obasanj
Page 37 and 38: Money flows up and down…these hon
Page 39 and 40: along with at least two to three bu
Page 41 and 42: The best thing you can get is a mul
Page 43 and 44: During the 2007 elections, oppositi
Page 45 and 46: followed up by any meaningful actio
Page 47 and 48: police force and address serious po
Page 49 and 50: police’s shortcomings as an insti
Page 51 and 52: One should expect by now that issue
Page 53: 2007 elections but then taken off i
Page 57 and 58: Adedibu’s War Against Ladoja Rash
Page 59 and 60: The attempt to impeach Ladoja ended
Page 61 and 62: saw four or five people and they ju
Page 63 and 64: Ibadan. 197 Especially in Ibadan, A
Page 65 and 66: Box 4: A Future Governor Discusses
Page 67 and 68: apparent purpose of creating lists
Page 69 and 70: servants of attacking the NURTW men
Page 71 and 72: Among the politicians Chris Uba “
Page 73 and 74: Ngige—like much of the Nigerian p
Page 75 and 76: that purported “impeachment” pr
Page 77 and 78: Peter Obi was reinstated in Februar
Page 79 and 80: Fighting Over the Spoils According
Page 81 and 82: in Anambra reached the same conclus
Page 83 and 84: Case Study C: Rivers State They buy
Page 85 and 86: There are widespread complaints amo
Page 87 and 88: esponse to concerns that Igodo was
Page 89 and 90: In 1999 and 2003, [Governor] Odili
Page 91 and 92: The night before the April 14 elect
Page 93 and 94: Tom, or their former political spon
Page 95 and 96: In parallel with other situations d
Page 97 and 98: Kalare Violence and the 2007 Electi
Page 99 and 100: International observers told Human
Page 101 and 102: eportedly urged his disgruntled opp
Page 103 and 104: and encourages a greater scale of l
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A few minutes earlier, internationa
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problems that have crippled the cap
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Yar’Adua has also promised to str
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The International Response to Niger
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after the rigged elections made no
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firmly fixed at the opposite extrem
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Criminal Politics 114
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H UMAN R I GHTS WATCH 350 Fifth Ave
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Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria

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