Posted by The Associated Press, The New York Times on
The vice president of Nigeria has angrily denied that he accepted bribes or had a business relationship with Representative William Jefferson....
The vice president of Nigeria has angrily denied that he accepted bribes or had a business relationship with Representative William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, who is the target of a federal corruption investigation that is threatening to complicate U.S. relations with that oil-exporting West African nation.
In a statement, Vice President Atiku Abubakar of Nigeria, a leading candidate in presidential elections next year, insisted that Jefferson had never "suggested, in any way, providing any personal economic benefits" to him.
It was the first detailed effort by Abubakar and his political advisers to distance him from the wide- ranging corruption investigation centered on Jefferson, who denies wrongdoing