Today's PM Newspaper read that topic.

I culdnt get one as i was rushing,

Anyone with full details?

SHALOM

also in the UK Guardian website, people are beginning to think he is dead or just hanging on

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/08/crisis-nigeria-president-missing


Crisis in Nigeria as president drops out of viewNothing has been heard of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of Nigeria for 45 days after he left the country for medical treatment

David Smith, Africa correspondent guardian.co.uk, Friday 8 January 2010 12.20 GMT Article history



The president is missing. The executive chair is empty, the in-tray overflowing, and 150 million people are crying out for leadership.

This is the crisis enveloping Nigeria, political rivals and activists say, as rumours swirl around the health of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, not seen in public for 45 days.

Africa's most populous country has allegedly become a rudderless ship despite a series of urgent issues, including the arrest of the Nigerian al-Qaida suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charged with attempting to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.

It has been more than six weeks since Yar'Adua left the country to be treated for a heart condition, reportedly in Saudi Arabia. The 58-year-old devout Muslim took off without informing the legislature and did not transfer power to his deputy.

His absence appears to have created a headless state and a sea of awkward constitutional questions. Opposition politicians have accused Yar'Adua's allies of covering for his absence by forging his signature on the country's supplementary budget.

They have demanded proof that the president is still alive, suggesting that he record a dated video statement or take part in a live TV or radio phone-in. One human rights group has suggested he be declared a missing person and a search party sent out to find him.

Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said: "We have not heard from the president for 45 days – not one word. I don't know where he is; your guess is as good as mine. Everything is shrouded in secrecy and we are worried as a country."

The NBA, a human rights lawyer and two former MPs have filed legal actions against the government, accusing Yar'Adua of breaching the constitution by staying in power. Akeredolu said the alleged involvement of a Nigerian citizen in the recent US bomb plot showed the present void was untenable. "It's a big problem because we don't have leadership. How do we give assurances to America? How do we communicate with the president of the United States and his secretary of state?"

Nigeria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia today insisted that Yar'Adua is "sound and fit" in a hospital in the country, but said it was still unclear when he would return home.

"He is recuperating in a royal suite attached to the hospital for VIPs. He is sound and fit, he sits, eats and walks very well. He is recuperating to have enough rest before he goes back to the office," Abdullah Aminchi told Reuters. Asked when the president would return to Nigeria, Aminchi said: "It is the doctors who will say when."

In the meantime, Goodluck Jonathan, the vice-president, has been heading cabinet meetings, insisting: "The ship of state continues to sail." But executive powers have not officially been transferred to him, raising questions over the legality of decisions made by the government.

Nigeria, a country of more than 200 ethnic groups that emerged from military rule only a decade ago, can ill afford a power vacuum. Two outbreaks of violence involving Islamic radicals in the past six months have been ruthlessly crushed by security forces, leaving hundreds dead.

An uneasy truce is holding in the oil-producing Niger Delta but last month armed men who attacked a pipeline blamed the president's absence for delaying the peace process. Nigeria is locked in a diplomatic row with the US following new security restrictions on the country's air passengers as a result of the terror plot.

Antony Goldman, head of PM Consulting, a London-based risk analysis firm specialising in west Africa, said: "The efforts made by the president's people to say everything is fine are counterproductive. They haven't even been able to produce a picture of him. A picture would speak a million words."

Officials have been scrambling to provide reassurances that Yar'Adua is alive and still fit to govern.

But critics say such assurances are no longer enough. The opposition Action Congress party has demanded visual proof of Yar'Adua's condition, saying: "The president must speak directly to the remaining 149,999,997 Nigerians, using the dated video recording format that we suggested in our earlier statement on Monday."

The government also faces scrutiny over its claim that Yar'Adua signed the supplementary budget from his sickbed in Saudi Arabia. The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), an opposition group, has written to the police asking them to investigate claims of forgery.

Yar'Adua had a serious kidney complaint in 2000, and tried to dismiss rumours of continued ill health in 2007 by challenging his critics to a game of squash. He interrupted his campaign months later to seek medical care in Germany. He was recently diagnosed with acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the heart membrane that can be life-threatening.

Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress in Nigeria, said: ""The absence of Mr President is spreading both anxiety and apprehension and creating an atmosphere for underground power struggle and machination that could at any moment be aggravated. The vice-president is a lame duck: weak, indecisive and now surrounded by vultures from the ruling party urging him to assert himself, but their loyalty can change back to Yar'Adua if he recovers and returns to the saddle."

He added: "There exists a strong suspicion among many Nigerians that a cabal of ministers and top government officials are benefiting from the absence of Yar'Adua as his policy of due process, prudence and fiscal responsibility is without a pilot."

ROTFLMAO.

Nigeria is doomed!

And the President, Umalu Yar Adoofus doesn't want to let go of power.

i think he's dead

oyb:

i think he's dead

Was that part of his 7-point agenda? To die in office?

@ROTFLMAO.

Nigeria is doomed!

And the President, Umalu Yar Adoofus doesn't want to let go of power.

Who sayys he is holding on to power.
he is barely alive. i am quite sure he is not even aware of all the noise that has been made

i just wonder

Was that part of his 7-point agenda? To die in office?

====Maybe, the only -point agenda that will work from the rest.

Come to fink of it, if he is dead, why are they hiding it?

All i know is dat Goodluck is destined to rule this country!

SHALOM

FL Gators:

This is depressing.

Who knows if the dude has been killed. . . . and his forged signature being used to spread naija's money amongst those lying thieves.

Hmmmm!! FL Gators, that is a worrying thought.
Nigeriians please let's speak out and ask for our president! if he doesn't show up in office by monday, he needs to renounce his presidency title, NOW! [sub][/sub]

Anyone with a useful information

Missing, dead or wat?

Wat is d real state of dis man?

SHALOM

Anyone with useful information should please contact the nearest police station.

lyfe:

Anyone with useful information should please contact the nearest police station.

Any price?

SHALOM

just like a needle in haystack our president is nowhere to be found

violent:

just like a needle in haystack our president is nowhere to be found

I'm praying this is not true ooooooo

SHALOM

When yaradua comes back(if he is not dead) he should publish a book"Between me,my health and the rumours" i can guarantee that it will be a best selling book because the lies are just too much,

xterra2:

When yaradua comes back(if he is not dead) he should publish a book"Between me,my health and the rumours" i can guarantee that it will be a best selling book because the lies are just too much,

you will buy it right?

SHALOM