Abubakar

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP):

Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar was charged yesterday at a special anti-graft court with more than a dozen counts of corruption stemming from his alleged diversion of US$125 million of public funds to private interests.

Charges filed by prosecutors before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the Nigerian capital against Abubakar also include allegations he received more than US$4.6 million in bribes.

Feuding

Abubakar, who is feuding with President Olusegun Obasanjo, had in the past dismissed the allegations as part of a plot to stop him from running for Nigeria's top office in April's presidential elections. His office could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Code of Conduct Tribunal is the only court in Nigeria with powers over public officers granted immunity against prosecution under the constitution. It can order the removal of guilty officials from office and order forfeiture of assets deemed acquired through corruption.

Abubakar did not appear before the court. He was represented by lawyers who challenged the jurisdiction of the special court to hear the case. Presiding Judge Constance Momoh set another hearing on November 16.

According to the court documents, some US$6 million out of the US$125 million Abubakar was alleged to have diverted from a special petroleum fund directly under his control went to iGate, a Louisville, Kentucky-based communications firm that had tried to set up in Nigeria in 2004.

United States (U.S.) Rep. William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, has been under investigation in the U.S. since March 2005 for allegedly using his position to help iGate - which sought contracts with Nigeria and other African nations - and seeking bribes in return. The FBI said it found US$90,000 stashed in a freezer in his home.

Abubakar has countered with damaging allegations of his own, alleging Obasanjo has not accounted for US$555 million of oil funds and controlled with him a bank account said, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigators, to have been a conduit for illegal payments.