Nigerian Police Probe Barack Hussein Obama Fundraising Dinner

[Dan]

LAGOS - Nigeria's anti-corruption police were questioning the head of the stock exchange after she organised a gala dinner in support of Barack Obama's U.S. presidential campaign which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, chairwoman of the "Africans for Obama" campaign group, organised the fundraising dinner in the commercial capital Lagos on August 11. A "platinum" ticket for a table of eight cost 2.5 million naira ($21,226).

In a letter to Nigeria's The Punch newspaper, the Obama campaign in the United States said it was in no way affiliated with "Africans for Obama" or with the gala dinner and said it would not accept any funds from the group.

It is illegal under U.S. law for foreign campaign groups to donate funds to political parties in the United States.

"We're trying to establish who is the beneficiary of the funds raised at the dinner," said Femi Babafemi, spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

"We learned that quite some hundreds of millions of naira were raised," he said.

Okereke-Onyiuke said in a full-page statement in Nigeria's The Guardian newspaper on Thursday that the Aug. 11 dinner had never been intended to raise funds or solicit donations for the Obama campaign.

"The dinner/concert held on August 11 was a relaxed atmosphere designed to sensitise and mobilise Africans worldwide and other eligible U.S. citizens to register and vote instead of passively watching history be made," she said.

She said any surplus funds from the event would be used for advertisements encouraging Africans eligible to do so to vote.

Babafemi said EFCC officials had started questioning Okereke-Onyiuke on Wednesday and were still interrogating her. He said the EFCC may seek to retrieve the money raised and return it to donors.

The idea of a man with an African father attaining the world's most powerful political office has fuelled "Obama-mania" across Africa over the past year and Nigeria, the continent's most populous nation, is no exception.

Buses and cars in the crowded streets of Lagos carry "Obama '08" bumper stickers, while militants in the oil-producing [censored] Delta have even called on the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee to mediate in their conflict.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange said in a statement that it did not get involved in partisan politics but that its staff were free to spend their private time and money as they liked.

1st the Nigerians and next the Arab Muslims...