In an unusual move, a lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has made inquiries into a lecture at a junior high school given by the former vice education minister who accused Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of favoritism in connection with the state's approval of a rare veterinary project run by Abe's friend, a government source said Sunday.

The education ministry said it asked the Nagoya Municipal Education Board to answer emailed questions about the purpose and content of former Vice Education Minister Kihei Maekawa's private mid-February lecture at the school.

Maekawa had alleged that Abe's office exercised significant influence in the government's decision to approve the construction of a new veterinary department at a university in Shikoku run by Kotaro Kake, a close friend of Abe who is also chairman of Kake Educational Institution.