14 Days to Decide Yar’Adua’s Fate
23rd January 2010 · 1 Comment · By Newstime Africa
President Umaru Yar'Adua - Health Problems
According to the Attorney General in Nigeria, the cabinet will make a decision in the next 14 days whether the President, Umaru Yar’Adua, is fit enough to govern the country after being absent for two months because of medical treatment, The 58-year-old leader has not been seen publicly since leaving on the 23rd of November to receive treatment for a heart ailment in Saudi Arabia. He has not transferred power to his Vice President, resulting to a debate over the legality of government decisions.
A Judge in the country, Justice Dan Abutu, has ordered the cabinet to pass a resolution on Yar’Adua’s fitness within two weeks after a former lawmaker brought a legal case against the government, saying his failure to transfer power was in breach of the constitution. The Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa said “We will abide by the judgement of the court. The Executive Council of the Federation will within 14 days, as directed, consider a resolution on the state of the president’s health,” The Senate, Nigeria’s upper house of legislature, is due to meet next Tuesday for an update and may also take a position on whether the president should remain in office. In early December, the cabinet unanimously agreed that there were no grounds to seek his resignation, rejecting calls for him to step down or prove his fitness to govern.
Abdullah Aminchi, the country’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said last week that Yar’Adua was expected to be discharged from hospital very soon after showing significant recovery, but there has been no word on when he might return. The Foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, declined to give a clear answer when questioned in a BBC interview broadcast on Thursday. “I am sure if the president is able to return yesterday, he would come back by yesterday. This president will do nothing that jeopardises the national interest. I do not rule out a transfer of power to the Vice President but he should not be stampeded into doing that.”
The Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, said “If you take up a job, elected, appointed or whatever, and then your health starts to fail you and you will not be able to deliver, to satisfy the people you are supposed to serve, then there is a path of honour and path of morality. If you don’t know that, you don’t know anything. I will stop on that note,” he told a briefing in Abuja on Thursday. The ex-President is still an influential figure within the ruling party and his closeness to the Vice President means his influence over government could grow should he (the VP) take over.
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Tags: Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe, Justice Dan Abutu, nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, President Umaru Yar’Adua, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan
Hi there – first off, been a longtime fan, first time commenter. I thought I might as well say thanks for posting this piece, and I’ll be back!