Nigeria's image not tarnished

2005-08-29 19:53

Abuja - Nigeria said on Monday its reputation had not been tarnished by a raid by United States corruption investigators on vice-president Atiku Abubakar's home outside Washington.

"It is pertinent at this point that nothing concerning the incident has tarnished the government of Nigeria," President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokesperson Oluremi Oyo said in a statement.

"When the search of the residence of vice-president Atiku Abubakar in Maryland, USA took place, our ambassador in Washington, Dr George Obiozor immediately reported the matter," she said.

Oyo said the ambassador had been instructed to follow up through diplomatic channels to establish the cause of the search and the findings.

On August 3, US federal agents raided the luxury home Atiku shares with a US-based wife in a Maryland suburb as part of a probe into a suspicious telecoms deal that allegedly involved US Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana and several senior officials from African countries.

- AFP