EXCLUSIVE: Nigeria, US heading for diplomatic showdown over APC’s consultants
The frosty diplomatic relations between the US and Nigeria may be further worsened by claims that consultants to All Progressives Congress (APC) are associates of President Barack Obama.
The Jonathan administration, according to a minister who spoke with TheCable on Tuesday, is poised to protest “strongly” against White House’s “meddling” in the Nigerian elections which it believes is influenced by AKPD Media and Messages, the firm handling APC’s political strategy in the US.
The political consulting firm was co-founded by David Axelrod, an Obama confidant. He was a chief campaign adviser to Obama during the campaign for the presidency in 2008 and was later appointed as senior advisor to the president.
In 2011, Axelrod left government and became the senior strategist for Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.
The minister told TheCable that the Jonathan administration will raise concerns with the Obama administration over its “hostile” attitude to the Nigerian president and its obvious endorsement of the APC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
Axelrod
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, had issued a strong-worded statement on Sunday condemning the postponement of the general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and warning against further delays.
Unconfirmed reports say Kerry, on a recent visit to Nigeria, had asked Jonathan why he did not fire Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel and national security adviser, for suggesting in London on January 22 that the 2015 elections should be postponed because of the fiasco over 30 million uncollected biometric voter cards.
In a report in the Washington Free Beacon, an online newspaper, AKPD was accused of lying that it had stopped working for the APC.
AKPD once said it stopped working for the APC since March 2014, but that its email exchanges with senior party members and advisers since then “show that contrary to the firm’s claims, AKPD has quietly continued to perform political work on Buhari’s behalf as he fights to unseat current President Goodluck Jonathan”, the newspaper said.
Isaac Baker, AKPD spokesman, had told the Washington Times last year that the firm worked with the APC from December 2013 to March 2014 “to form a new political opposition party and create a platform in advance of their first national convention. We were no longer working with the APC when the Boko Haram kidnapping of the young girls took place”.
However, he was said to have admitted on Monday that the firm worked again with the APC in December 2014.
“AKPD worked with APC from December 2013 to March 2014, at which point our contract ended. Nine months later, in December 2014, the APC re-hired AKPD for a 3-week engagement to help the party in organizing announcement events,” Baker told the Free Beacon in an email.
“That was our only involvement with the party since we completed work in March. That project is now complete and we have no ongoing relationship with them,” he said.
But Free Beacon says the internal emails sent between APC advisers over the past several months and obtained by the newspaper confirm that the work with AKPD continued after March 2014.
Kerry met with Jonathan where he reportedly warned against poll shift
In a series of messages between senior APC officials and advisers from September 2014 to late January 2015, AKPD polling and other work are repeatedly discussed, the newspaper reported.
“The meeting went well and the report well received. [Gov. Rotimi Amaechi] will meet with the AKPD team tomorrow to discuss the facilitation of the event but no dates fixed yet,” APC member Olubunmi Adetunmbi is reported to have written in one September 23 email to Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti state.
AKPD’s work is again mentioned in a separate chain of emails sent between Buhari’s running mate, Yemi Osinbajo, and adviser Fayemi.
“I also think the AKPD surveys also clearly showed that the South West is the battle ground for this election,” Osinbajo writes in a discussion about boosting election turnouts for the APC.
A third email chain from Jan. 21 shows APC leader Nasir El-Rufai discussing an “October 2014 AKPD poll” that he hoped to disseminate to “the team”, the newspaper reported.
Lai Mohammed, APC’s spokesman, told TheCable on Tuesday that the fact that AKPD is APC’s consultant “is in the public domain”.
Another US firm Levick, led by former US President Bill Clinton’s confidant Lanny Davis, currently works for the Jonathan administration after signing a consultancy deal with the News Agency of Nigeria in 2014.
Na only God go help us in 9ja
And you believe on the writer. What has Obama got to do with people who knows nothing to be principle in their life; only pretext, jumping from one Political party to another; for selfish interest, not leadership but what will be reaching their pockets?
PDP should stop holding on to nothing. What is the big deal. The consultants are doing their job. Lets us go to the polls, enough of all these useless tantrums. Do the right thing.
Don’t mind them. When their world begins at the creek and ends in Abuja, they could only afford FFK and Okukpe while APC is connecting to the wide world
Another excuse to further postpone election. You too go and look for David Cameron consultant. Rubbish excuse. America is aware of the rot in our system.
What does consultancy have to do with Postponement , you PDP are pathetic ,so employing a foreign strategist is a crime, PDP haven’t done anything for the Past 6yrs and want to get re-elected ,They should stop crying over spilled milk, PDP is a failure, They have failed Nigerians . Nigerians don’t be deceived by those Amateur politicking ,call a spade a spade
We invite the whole world to help us rescue Nigeria from the hands of this clueless government bent on setting Nigeria on fire
This country is us, consultant or not let Nigeria do what is right and conduct the election on peaceful atmosphere because if problem comes of the is Nigeria tha will bear the cross. No white man consult Nigeria for their election.
What does consultancy have to do with Postponement , you PDP are pathetic ,so employing a foreign strategist is a crime, PDP haven’t done anything for the Past 6yrs and want to get re-elected ,They should stop crying over spilled milk, PDP is a failure, They have failed Nigerians . Nigerians don’t be deceived by those Amateur politicking ,call a spade a spade
What God has established there no force or goverment on earth that can overthrow.
When God appoints a servant to rule his people and refuses to perform,He packs him aside and appoints another.
The more the delay the more the margin of defeat for the incubent.
I have said it, God is again about to reunite this country as one.
America should mind their business and stop trying to destabilize Nigeria like they did in Iraq Libya and other countries around the world. Election should be our internal business with no interference from any other country I love Americans but not their government’s nosy parker’s style of policies. God bless Nigeria
THE TIME TO CHANGE IS NOW!!! LET US NOTE ‘WHAT WORK MAY NOT WORK’ IN VIEW OF NEW INFORMATION,TECHNOLOGY,METHODOLOGY.
it is against our national security as a people to allow parties to employ foreign lobbyists and image makers to try to unseat a president. it is the government of our country that can employ such to promote Nigeria on the international stage. we should be careful of the western style democratic circus. we can see what is happening in Ukraine in Iraq Syria Libya and other countries the west has meddled in. we have short memories or we will not be jubilant at so called endorsements. No more colonial mentality please.
Are you kidding or just plain ignorant?
Anybody can hire any parties to provide professional services to them; either governmentf or individual.
Ignoramus…
Why this foolery,ur NSA Dasuki was in London and claim up with the shift in the election date, was he looking for international support and understanding-why cldn’t say it here in naija. Forensic audit of govt parastatals, na oyibo coys dey them. Every holidays our pple troupe abroad in d name of summer. The colomentality will never stop. Small Niger and Chad are teaching ur military how to contain boko haram, yet u re claiming national security. A govt that cannot do the right thing will end up like that of GEJ.
Kudos to APC for not leaving any stone unturned in their quest at rescuing Nigeria from the hands of the PDP and its machinery, the Presidency who are hell bent on killing and destroying anything called Nigeria. Now they are jittery over imminent defeat at the polls. Let them be informed that it too late to cry over spilt milk. The message is clear, ‘ mene mene tekel peresini!’ God has spoken and Nigerians are echoing it. Open way to Otueke come May 29, 2015.
Most consultants and strategist, in the US mould, do not necessarily belong to the political party of their clients. As one commentator already stated, it is just a job, the broad aim being to repackage the party and/or the candidate(s) to make them more appealing to the voting public OR to a particular demographic. For example a candidate who is widely percieved to be hostile or indifferent to women or labour will be advised on how to counter that perception. The tools employed are varied and applying them is what political consultants and strategists do. There is no morality or frienship involved here. That David Axelrod ended up taking a post in the Obama White House does not disprove anything. I will not be surprised if the handlers of the top Republican contenders for the US Presidency hope that Axelrod is available for them to engage. However I am glad that nobody is complaining about the consultancy group linked to Bill Clinton working with the PDP and President Jonathan. Does that then mean that Clinton has endorsed Jonathan? No.
@Oduche, your intelligent comment hit the nail on the head. It’s just a job! The hypocrisy is laughable when one considers that the PDP has hired another American consultancy to do some PR work for them. Or are they just upset that they probably wanted Axelrod and the APC hired him first or that they are miffed that the APC has also hired an American PR firm? This is just sour grapes!
What is the big deal if AKPD work for APC, are they not doing their work? PDP should hire ABC motors if they desire, enough of this hostage! Let’s conduct this elections once and for all jor.
It is very very sad & u fortunafe that at this point in Nigeria ‘s history, 55 years after independence, the country seems to be lost at sea, drifting towards self destruction with ” 7captain” Goodluck Jonathan in control. We create our own problems and headaches ,yet want to blame America. Did America cause d Boko Haram problem ? Did they show our “captain” his style of leadership ? Did they encourage him to postpone the election because of his flimsy excuse ? Well meaning people with enough grey matter in their heads can say as a matter of factly, that living in Nigeria as a common man leaves much to be desired. Look at d economy & see how much we have progressed. Look @ the rate of exchange between 6 months ago and today. Is that a problem America caused ? In order for us to move forward & start making progress instead of regression, we need to taje the bull by the horn, vote the present captain out & implore the next man ti channel a new course for Nigeria. We cannot afford to continue to allow fellow Nigerians to continue to wallow in abject poverty, while our senators, as civil servants get so much monthly allowance but teachers & doctors dont get paid on time. The present system does not work. America did not cause any of this. Let us take responsibilty for own deeds & fix it. Long life NIGERIA!
Only a novice and an enemy of our great dear country would be excited seeing the west forces meddling in our national issue.
I just can’t figure it out why people often fail to learn from past mistake. Americans will always be at lugger head with any government that wouldn’t sign their gay act bill, and compromising it’s territorial integrity for their evil use.
Little wonder why they refused to sell fighter jet to fight boko haram.
its quite amazing that US the mother and father of democracy is crying fowl over election postponement when it’s more than obvious that about 23millions eligible voters would be disenfranchised. something is wrong if a sympathiser morn than the bereaved.
For crying out loud, nigeria is an independent nation, hence we are riped enough to determine what is best for us.
US should please mind her business!!!
Nigeria didn’t get fighter jet cos of Kashamu a drug peddler that US declared wanted in their country. Instead our prez celebrated him by making him PDP chairman southwest. Now do u expect a country like that to lookaway our disrespect?
Americans are Nigeria’s number one enemies of Nigeria. They don’t like us,I don’t like them too.
What an unfortunate situation that US has hijacked our polity sitting in white house to decide who rules us and some people are talking as though headless just because they don’t like their president.
Why has US been giving a close marking with our political uprising, warning about posponement and at same time working with Jega to announce result in America?
No nation under heaven is as selfish as US, they only get involved when they have satanic interest and some of you are there talking foolishly.
I am not a friend of pdp but apc is not an alternative at all. Open your eyes before US will buy you over. They started it long ago and had to force themselves into selling their insufficient oil just to frustrate out economy and goverment. America and apc have failed already. God bless Nigeria and the “good people” of Nigeria.
Why are we nigerians so gullible? What is wrong with jonanthan government? What can apc do for us? When Jonathan came into power he start to fight corruption, all of a suden boko haram surfaced, as a president what will you do? Pls you people should stop talking rubish about him, he is just a victim of cicumstance. Americans does not wish us well more goodluck have done what no president have never done before.
Apc is all I known to me I wll vote Apc
The elections is not postponed because of the consultant or anytin, is because of the killings and noise cause by the APC thats why jega postpone it not PDP. So take note.
Really what is the big deal if stone, entity decides to hire a consulting form to do a professional job for its campaign? Why can’t PDP hire a better firm for appropriate or superior message communication to its bride, electorates’. Why making a mountain out of a mole hill?
Let us face the real issue
Any party has right to hire any consultant as long as our sovereignty is not at risk. This has only further portrayed us as crazy importer. What has those firms impacted in their campaigns? I have not seen a quality campaigns or civilised campaigning. Its just a waste of fund.
Why this foolery,ur NSA Dasuki was in London and came up with the shift in the election date, was he looking for international support and understanding-why cldn’t he say it here in naija. Forensic audit of govt parastatals, na oyibo coys dey them. Every holidays our pple troup abroad in d name of summer. The colo-mentality will never stop. Small Niger and Chad are teaching our military how to contain boko haram, yet u re claiming national security. A govt that cannot do the right thing will end up like that of GEJ. We ridicule ourselves and yet expect to be respected outside.
PDP are just scared; face it! AKPD Consultants are doing their JOB as hired by APC and Levick are also working for PDP… Balanced equation!
America stated this mess by overthrown Buhari & Idiagbon now they got to fix it. They new only Buhari can put Nigeria back into picture. Therefore America got a lot to do with this election coming.
PDP is simply shameless. They started with arrogance, move over to excuses, now it is crying over every and anything. They should go hire the Israelites or the Germans and face the doomsday. It is here and they can shift the election day as many times as they want. They will eventually face the music.
only truth will set free. We need change
It’s quite unfortunate when the youth whose lives are being mortgaged and are supposed to be engaging in intellectual argument to send away non-performing government, are now supporting the killers, looters! Incredible! US is well known for her vested interest in any nation and what it will do to sustain the interest. Tell me, PDP engaged the service of a consultant linked to republican president Clinton while APC equally took turn to engaged another one believed to link with Obama! Now, we are exposed. Supposing Mr. GEJ is doing it right, do you think anyone will kick against him? I mean the masses? Masses voted him in 2011, but now they turn against him due to many unfulfilled and failed promises! Tell me, is this the handiwork of opposition? No one trust any word out of Mr. President’s mouth again, thus denigrating the office! Hear him lying in media chat yesterday! When he was asked about open threat by his kinsmen from the meeting held at Bayelsa state got home cried by Seriani Dickson, in the presence of Kuku, Nigerians Delta handler for President, where Asari Dokubo, Tompolo and Baby loaf were threatening genocide, instead of telling the whole world his stand, he claimed that it is coming from both parties! Does this kind of person meant well for our dear nation? Why can’t he tell us whether they are speaking his mind or otherwise order their arrest or in the least, caution those rogues who prefer to have investment out use Nigeria but can only purchase war vessel, with got license, to create problem! All I know is that, whoever plans to cause war in Nigeria will not live to see it. One Nigeria forever with love and
what is d problem if one is competing to reach a goal with another and employs a mean to reach d goal legitimately – in diz circumstance a PR wit supposedly connection with USA president ? pls let d president look elsewhere for d cause of his headache – eg what is d difference BTW stealing and corruption . d president choice of friends – eg drug baron who can barely write and read hitching to become a senator in Nigeria’, especially in a state that produced the first African Nobel Laurette, Chief Justice of Nigeria, first lawyer, etc
Emmanuel Agabi ….you claimed you live in Nigeria and do not close your eyes; agreed. Were you claiming government propaganda on agric or are you a farmer – are you oblivious of two different and contradictory accounts of the current agric minister and the former; the power that has increased by your account – which town and area of the country do you reside in; this govt keeps telling us that power generation has improved but problem is distribution; who cares when the bulbs in our homes are still dead.
Education – which education are you referring to; is it the claimed 12/14 universities (they are not even sure of he number anyway) built that make Nigeria education system. Do you or these people in power have have wards in any Nigeria education system (primary to tertiary)? Transport/railway – point to the area that has improved; the claimed fast rail – fast? with these 19 century locomotives in the 21st century!
People like you are the calamity of this country – Nigeria. Like Rotimi and many people have mentioned – Nigeria voters are wiser now; even the opportunity to tell their lies on social media like this has put paid to you and your likes lies.
The panic alerts by PDP/presidency has assumed international dimension. Too bad!