Tony Baldry has won an apology from a national newspaper after it accused him of acting improperly as an MP.

In an Independent On Sunday story, the Banbury MP was alleged to have misused his position as an MP to help an African politician named in a

target="_blank">money laundering case – a claim he strongly denied.

The newspaper said Mr Baldry had written to Foreign Secretary David Miliband to warn that a Scotland Yard investigation into Nigerian businessman James Ibori could “damage British interests in the country”.

The letter followed an investigation into fraud and laundering money through British banks.

The paper also said Mr Baldry had criticised a freezing order on Mr Ibori’s assets.

At the time Mr Baldry branded the story “seriously defamatory and untrue”, stating that all his dealings with Mr Ibori and on his behalf were only as a barrister.

On Sunday’s IoS, the paper printed a retraction.

It said: “In our article ‘Tory MP accused over links to Nigerian politician’ on February 14, 2010, we reported that Tony Baldry MP had ‘lobbied’ on behalf of a Nigerian politician James Ibori in writing a letter to the Foreign Secretary and others, and that his involvement amounted to ‘political lobbying’.

“We now accept that Mr Baldry did not lobby on behalf of Mr Ibori, the letter was written in his capacity as a barrister, instructed by solicitors, who were acting for Mr Ibori.

“The letter was not written in Mr Baldry’s capacity as a MP, and we accept that there was no breach of the Parliamentary rule about lobbying for reward or consideration.

“We apologise to Mr Baldry for suggesting that he acted improperly as an MP.”

Mr Baldry said: “I just wanted to correct the record as speedily as possible.

“Had the Independent On Sunday bothered to speak to me before it ran the story it would have been sorted out before it was printed.”

Mr Baldry ruled out suing the paper, adding: “As far as I’m concerned, life is too short to be flapping around suing people.

“I just wanted to get the record straight as soon as possible.”

Mr Ibori, a former state governor in Nigeria, was cited as a co-conspirator in a fraud case due to be held in a London court on February 17, but was not charged with any offences.

The House of Commons register of members’ interests, showed Mr Baldry was paid more than £37,000 for 29 hours work between September and December by Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based solicitor who had acted for the Ibori family.

It is not recorded what work this was for.

No one from the Independent On Sunday was available to comment.