LAGOS - Nigeria has negotiated a 250 million dollar settlement deal that would see it drop charges against US ex-vice president Dick Cheney and others over a bribery scandal, an official said Tuesday.
The deal reached by officials from Nigeria and energy firm Halliburton, Cheney's former company, must still be approved by the West African country's government, said Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for the anti-graft agency.
"The attorney general of the federation will have to ratify that on behalf of the federal government," he said, adding that a decision would come before the end of the week. The money would be paid "in lieu of prosecution."
Officials told AFP on Monday that the Nigerian government would consider a settlement deal in the case following weekend negotiations in London.
The London talks came after Nigerian authorities charged Cheney and others last week over a bribery scandal linked to construction of a liquefied natural gas plant. Cheney was head of Halliburton before becoming US vice president following 2000 elections.
Babafemi said the 250 million would include some 130 million currently frozen in Switzerland, with the rest paid in fines.