Nigeria, Oct. 29 -- The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has dismissed reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the United States, insisting that the bilateral agreement between both countries does not involve the sale or transfer of Nigeria's mineral assets.

Mr Alake made the clarification during the inauguration of the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja.

"There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There's nothing exchanging hands," he said.

The minister explained that the agreement signed by Nigeria and the US was a government-to-government framework designed to connect American investors with Nigerian businesses, rather than transfer...