Nigeria's vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, will continue to lead the West African country while an ill President Umaru Yar'Adua recovers after treatment for a heart condition, an adviser to the latter said Wednesday.

Presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi issued the statement Wednesday in response to news that Yar'Adua had returned to Nigeria in the early morning after more than three months abroad at a Saudi Arabian hospital.

Yar'Adua was treated for inflammation of the lining of his heart and also suffers from chronic kidney problems.

The return of the president two weeks after parliament empowered Jonathan to act in his stead has sparked questions about the potential for another constitutional crisis in the country's fragile democracy.

Yar'Adua created a power vacuum when he left Nigeria in November without empowering his vice-president to take over.

Nigeria's House of Representatives and Senate passed measures earlier this month calling on Jonathan to act as president and commander in chief but only until Yar'Adua returned and was medically capable of leading the country of 150 million people.
Questions over Yar'Adua's health

Abdullah Aminchi, Nigeria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said Yar'Adua needs time to recuperate before assuming presidential powers.

"He's already walking," the ambassador said. "He eats. He can move about. I think he just needs some time to rest, and he can go back to his work as president of Nigeria."

His return sparked international concern that it may have been politically motivated.

"We hope that President Yar'Adua's return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisors to upset Nigeria's stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson in a statement on Wednesday.

Yar'Adua won office in 2007 in an election marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, replacing outgoing president Olusegun Obasanjo.

It marked the first time power was transferred from one elected civilian to another in Nigeria, which suffered through a series of bloody coups after gaining independence from Britain in 1960.



http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/02/24/nigeria-president.html

"We hope that President Yar'Adua's return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisors to upset Nigeria's stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process,"

smh

sometimes silence is golden


should Yaradua have returned to the US? Is he a US national?

24/02/2010 14:06 ABUJA, Feb 24 (AFP)


Nigeria's acting president had yet to meet President Umaru Yar'Adua more than 12 hours after the ailing leader's return from a Saudi hospital, the government spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after a brief cabinet meeting that acting president Goodluck Jonathan had been briefed of Yar'Adua's return by presidential aides.

Jonathan "hopes to see the wife of the president this evening , and when he is eventually briefed by our president, he (Jonathan) will call us again," she said.

©2010 AFP

Source: http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=100224140650.3s3f45nh.php

I do hope the country wont have two parallel govts now.


Splitting is inevitable, imo.

I may have to throw my naija passport in the sea.

A weekly Cabinet meeting went ahead after a delay of several hours after it became clear that Mr Yar’Adua would not be attending.

Nigeria’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia said the 58-year-old flew home after a marked improvement in his condition, but it was several hours before officials in Abuja confirmed his return to the country.

Acting president Goodluck Jonathan will remain in charge while the president, treated for a serious heart condition, continues to recuperate, the president’s spokesman Segun Adeniyi said.

“After being discharged by the team of medical experts overseeing his treatment in, Saudi Arabia, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua returned to the presidential villa, Abuja early this morning,” he said.

“While the President completes his recuperation, Vice President Jonathan will continue to oversee the affairs of state,” he said.

The two leaders had yet to meet more than 12 hours after Yar’Adua’s return, Information Minister Dora Akunyili told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

She said Mr Jonathan had been briefed of Yar’Adua’s return by presidential aides.

Mr Jonathan “hopes to see the wife of the president this evening , and when he is eventually briefed by our president, he (Jonathan) will call us again,” she said.

The clandestine nature of the president’s return — in the dead of night, after a 93 day absence — did little to reassure the United States about his state of health, Washington expressing concern his return could spark “renewed uncertainty” in the major oil exporter.

Recent reports “continue to suggest that President Umaru Yar’Adua’s health remains fragile and that he may still be unable to fulfill the demands of his office,” said Washington’s top envoy to Africa, Johnnie Carson.

“We hope that President Yar’Adua’s return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisors to upset Nigeria’s stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process,” Mr Carson said in a statement released by the US embassy in Lagos.

“Nigeria needs a strong, healthy and effective leader to ensure the stability of the country and to manage Nigeria’s many political, economic and security challenges.”