Posted by BBC News on
Nigeria's anti-graft agency has released the names of 135 politicians it accuses of being too corrupt to run in the country's elections in April.
Most prominent is Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who defected from the ruling party to run as an opposition presidential candidate.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sent the list with a covering letter to political parties.
The list has 82 opposition candidates and 53 from the ruling party.
Almost 30 candidates to be regional governors, including seven serving opposition governors, are on the list of those the EFCC alleges are "unfit to hold public office because of corruption".
The main opposition presidential candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, who is generally considered an honest politician by many Nigerians, was not on the list.
The EFCC, who have been tasked with enforcing President Olusegun Obasanjo's war on corruption, has no powers to ban anyone from the presidential, parliamentary and state elections.
"The list is purely advisory," EFCC spokesman Osita Nwajah told BBC News, adding that it was left to the parties to decide whether to go ahead and field candidates on the list.
Storm
The EFCC has consistently said it would not allow corrupt politicians to rule Nigeria, which is considered one of the world's most corrupt countries by the watchdog Transparency International.