The US ambassador in Nigeria sent a letter to the
speaker of the House of Representatives accusing some lawmakers of
attempted rape and soliciting sex workers while on a visit to the US
at the invitation of the US government.
But the lawmakers have denied the allegations and
have threatened to sue the US government for character assassination.
Ten lawmakers were invited to the International Visitor
Leadership Program held between 7-13 April in Cleveland, Ohio,
and three of them were accused of gross misconduct.
In the letter, Ambassador James Entwistle said the
Department of State had reports from employees of the Cleveland hotel
that lawmaker Muhammed Gololo had allegedly grabbed a
housekeeper in his hotel room and solicited her for sex.
Two other lawmakers allegedly requested hotel parking
attendants to assist them to solicit prostitutes, the letter said.
In a response to the speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr Gololo dismissed the allegation as "totally false,
baseless and unfounded".
"I categorically deny that any such incident
happened," he added.
Mr Goloo said he was demanding an apology from the US
government over the allegations or would take legal action to clear his
name.
When the BBC contacted the US embassy in Nigeria
for comment, its spokesman Sean McIntosh said: "We do not
comment on private diplomatic correspondence."
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