Nigeria drops Halliburton bribery charges

Dick Cheney had faced charges in the bribery case against Halliburton (Getty Images)

Nigeria has has dropped charges against Dick Cheney, the former US vice-president, over bribery allegations involving the energy giant Halliburton after an out-of-court settlement was agreed.

Nigeria's anti-corruption watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said the charges were dropped on Friday after Halliburton agreed to pay fines up to $250m (£162m) over allegations it paid millions of dollars in bribe to Nigerian officials.

Halliburton, which has previously said the claims had no legal basis, confirmed that the charges had been dropped, but declined to further comment on the case.

The Nigerian commission said it received the settlement offer when it met with officials representing Mr Cheney and Halliburton in London last week after 16-count charges were filed at a federal high court in Abuja.