Nigeria Senate urges action on VP

Mr Abubakar denies corruption allegations

A Nigerian Senate investigation has accused Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of diverting $145m from public funds into private interests.

A Senate committee called for Mr Abubakar to be "sanctioned". The vice-president is protected from criminal indictment while in office.

But observers say the findings could lead to impeachment by the Senate.

This could also halt Mr Abubakar's plans to stand as an opposition candidate in April's presidential poll.

The report is the latest twist in a bitter political and legal feud between Mr Abubakar and President Olusegun Obasanjo over a variety of issues that has been going on for months.

Mr Abubakar has strongly denied allegations of corruption made against him.

'Appropriate action

The vice-president "abused his office by aiding and abetting the diversion of public funds in the sum of $145million" as loans to his friends, the report presented to a plenary session of the Senate said.

Supporters of Mr Abubakar, once a political ally of the president, have rejected the findings, AP news agency said.

The Senate is scheduled to examine the report on Wednesday.

The committee was set up to investigate the allegations after the Senate was sent reports by President Obasanjo "for its information and appropriate action".

Nigeria's anti-graft agency, acting on a request from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, had investigated allegations that Mr Abubakar received a bribe from Congressman William Jefferson.

The investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission also revealed other alleged cases of corruption against Mr Abubakar whom it accused of using the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to divert public funds into his businesses.

The Senate committee also found that President Obasanjo had used the same PTDF to make illegal payments for some projects.

"Obasanjo and the federal executive council (ministerial cabinet) acted in disregard of the law when they approved the spending of $27m on some projects," it said.