Nigerian ambassador to Israel responds to FG’s query, denies attending US embassy re- location ceremony to Jerusalem

Chidi Samuel|

The Nigerian ambassador to Israel has denied reports that he attended the opening ceremony of the relocation of US embassy to Jerusalem on Monday.

The ambassador’s denial was a response to the query issued to him by the federal government.

A presidency official confirmed this development to state house correspondents on Tuesday.

The presidency official, who spoke to journalists on the condition of anonymity, said Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, has queried the ambassador, for reportedly attending the event.

Al Jazeera had reported that Nigeria was among the countries that were represented at the inauguration, a claim the presidency has denied.

“Based on that report, the minister queried the ambassador to explain why he attended the event,” the official said.

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“The ambassador has since replied that he was not at the event. It was on the strength of the ambassador’s response that the federal government wrote to Al Jazeera to retract its story.”

The decision of US President Donald Trump to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel had drawn criticism from Europe and Washington’s main Arab allies.