IV

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 40

Concerning the movement toward democracy in the Federal Republic of

Nigeria.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 15, 1995

Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey submitted the following concurrent resolution;

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Concerning the movement toward democracy in the Federal

Republic of Nigeria.

Whereas the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and

the international community had been led to believe that

the presidential election held in Nigeria on June 12,

1993, would result in a return to full democratic civilian

rule in Nigeria;

Whereas General Ibrahim Babangida, the head of Nigeria’s

military government at the time of the June 12, 1993,

election, interrupted the release of the election results on

June 23, 1993, and later annulled the election, thereby

preventing a return to civilian rule;

Whereas the election process indicated that voters in Nigeria—a country with a population of approximately

90,000,000 individuals comprising 250 ethnic groups and
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spread across 357,000 square miles—were expressing a

spirit of national unity that transcended ethnic, religious,

and regional allegiances;

Whereas reported returns suggested that Moshood Abiola of

the Social Democratic Party was receiving a substantial

majority of the votes cast, leading the poll in 20 of the

30 states in Nigeria;

Whereas the annulment of the presidential elections resulted

in various forms of civil unrest, which in turn led to the

death of more than 100 individuals;

Whereas an interim government established by General

Babangida on August 27, 1993, and headed by Ernest

Shonekan, failed to win the support of the Nigerian

people;

Whereas General Sani Abacha took power on November 17,

1993, appointing an unelected provisional ruling council

to govern Nigeria;

Whereas General Abacha and the provisional ruling council,

upon taking power, stated their commitment to an early

return to civilian and democratic rule, and named several

prominent democratic political figures to serve in the

government;

Whereas the political and economic conditions in Nigeria have

continued to deteriorate in the months since Abacha took

control of the country;

Whereas the faith of the Nigerian people in the viability of

the nation as a unified whole must be preserved, and the

balkanization of Nigeria guarded against;

Whereas the people of Nigeria have not accepted the continuation of military rule and have courageously spoken out
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in favor of the rapid return of democratic and civilian

rule;

Whereas on May 15, 1994, a broad coalition of Nigerian

democrats formed the National Democratic Coalition calling upon the military government to step down in favor

of the winner of the June 12, 1993, election;

Whereas the confidence of the Nigerian people and the international community in the provisional ruling council’s

commitment to the restoration of democracy can only be

established by a sustained demonstration of a commitment to human rights, due process, and the return of civilian rule;

Whereas the United States would prefer to have a relationship with Nigeria based upon cooperation and mutual

support but cannot, and will not, condone or overlook the

denial of democratic civilian rule—against the clear wishes of the Nigerian people—by the provisional ruling council or any other body in Nigeria;

Whereas the lack of support from the Nigerian authorities on

drug trafficking issues has recently forced the United

States to again place Nigeria on the list of countries penalized for failure to seriously address the narcotics proliferation issue;

Whereas continuing credible reports of widespread corruption

and questionable business practices in the Nigerian Government, and the lack of cooperation in addressing these

problems by the Nigerian Government, further undermines Nigeria’s credibility in the international community;

Whereas the steps taken by the international community in

response to the refusal of the Nigerian military to relin-
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quish power serve both to encourage the people of Nigeria in their legitimate struggle for democracy and to limit

the ability of the military to entrench its rule; and

Whereas Nigeria’s leadership role on the African continent

and its international influence will be severely compromised by its failure to rejoin the world community of

democratic nations: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) continues to support the Nigerian people in

4 their commitment to unity and democracy as evi5 denced by their participation in the June 12, 1993,

6 presidential election in the Federal Republic of Nige7 ria, and in their subsequent insistence on the return

8 to full civilian and democratic rule;

9 (2) endorses the steps taken by President Clin10 ton and the Administration—specifically the restric11 tions on assistance to agencies of the Nigerian Gov12 ernment, the suspension of military cooperation be13 tween the United States and Nigeria, the restric14 tions on travel to the United States by officials of

15 the Nigerian military regime, and the insistence that

16 full normalization of United States-Nigeria relations

17 depends upon the restoration of civilian democratic

18 rule—to demonstrate United States opposition to

19 the annulment of such election and to encourage the
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1 restoration of fully democratic and civilian rule in

2 Nigeria;

3 (3) urges the Administration to continue all ac4 tions designed to encourage the restoration of civil5 ian rule in Nigeria, especially the restriction on trav6 el to the United States by officials of the military re7 gime, until concrete and significant steps have been

8 taken toward a genuine transition to a democrat9 ically elected civilian government in Nigeria;

10 (4) encourages the Administration to explore

11 additional measures that might be taken, either uni12 laterally, in cooperation with other nations, or

13 through multilateral institutions such as the Inter14 national Monetary Fund and the International Bank

15 for Reconstruction and Development, to construc16 tively encourage the restoration of democratic and

17 civilian rule in Nigeria;

18 (5) requests that United States officials, both

19 in the United States and in Nigeria, consistently re20 iterate United States insistence upon the rapid re21 turn of civilian and democratic rule in Nigeria, and

22 that United States Government agencies such as the

23 United States Information Agency and the Agency

24 for International Development, as well as publicly

25 supported agencies such as the National Endowment
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1 for Democracy, should provide support for activities

2 aimed at strengthening democratic forces and demo3 cratic institutions in Nigeria;

4 (6) condemns the arrests and imprisonment by

5 the Nigerian military authorities of Chief Abiola and

6 other political leaders and democracy advocates, as

7 well as the new restrictions imposed on freedom of

8 expression; and

9 (7) urges General Abacha and the provisional

10 ruling council in Nigeria, in order to maintain the

11 viability of Nigeria and restore political stability and

12 to avert the further deterioration of relations be13 tween Nigeria and the United States, to—

14 (A) fully restore freedom of the press, with

15 access to all contemporary political and elec16 toral information, fully respect human rights,

17 and fully restore the independence and author18 ity of the judiciary in Nigeria;

19 (B) immediately release Chief Abiola and

20 the other political leaders and human rights ac21 tivists who have been arrested or detained;

22 (C) decisively move to resolve the political

23 crisis in Nigeria by setting up a rapid timetable

24 for the full restoration of civilian and demo25 cratic rule, unencumbered by the military; and
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1 (D) positively respond to United States

2 and other international efforts to constructively

3 encourage the restoration of democracy in

4 Nigeria.

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