| Nigeria: Halliburton - Atiku Denies Involvement |
| http://allafrica.com/stories/200903210020.html |
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Mohammed S. Shehu 21 March 2009 Abuja — Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has denied involvement in the bribery scandal allegedly committed by the American Company, Halliburton. Atiku also reiterated his innocence in the case involving a United States Congressman William Jefferson. Reacting yesterday to media reports that his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, had in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) television interview, linked him (Atiku) to the Halliburton scandal, Atiku said he played no role in the scam. In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his media office, Atiku said media reports of the Obasanjo interview were inaccurate and wrong. The statement added that Obasanjo could not have accused Atiku over the Halliburton scandal because the former Vice President never supervised the Ministry of Petroleum and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the two organizations under which the scandal was alleged to have taken place. On the Jefferson case, the statement said Atiku had no questions to answer in the United States of America and that Atiku has sufficiently proved his innocence in the matter. "Congressman Jefferson is at present being tried in the USA and Atiku has never been indicted on the matter," the statement added. |