By Linus Aleke, Abuja
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama yesterday denied the alleged trending report that Nigeria will impose sanction on Russia.

The Special Assistant on Media, to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Sarah Sanda in a statement said the Minister was quoted out of context by an unnamed online medium.

She said: “The attention of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama has been drawn to an online publication where he was reported to have said in an interview that Nigeria was ready to impose sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine.

The Minister clearly said, we would act in the framework of the UN, and if there was a UN Resolution, we would be obliged, but there would not be because Russia has a veto power”.

While reproducing portion of the transcribed interview for or clarity, the Special Assistant said that when the Minister was asked that several countries have imposed sanctions on Russia. Is Nigeria making any practical move in that direction?

Mr. Onyeama responded thus: “This is going to be a collective action. The UN has to act, and we are going to act and engage within the framework of the United Nations. So, if UN, for instance, adopts and imposes sanctions on Russia, we will comply with UN resolutions on any matter”.

On how detrimental would that be to Nigeria’s investments as it concerns Russia?

The Minister said, “Certainly, it will have an impact, I’m not sure that we have huge investments in Russia. It’s not a country in which we have huge investments. We have good relations with Russia, but as I said, Russians vetoed the Security Council. They are chairing the Security Council. So, it’s going to the General Assembly”.

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When asked whether Nigeria can bear the anger of Moscow if it goes the way of the UN? The Foreign Minister explained thus: “You won’t have sanctions because Russia has the veto power in the Security Council, so you will not have a situation when the Security Council is going to accept to impose sanctions on Russia, because Russia has the veto power and is chairing the Security Council”.