President gravely ill! Who will take over from Yaradua?

IN spite of official assurances that President Umaru Yar’Adua is responding to treatment in a Saudi Arabian hospital and will return soon to the country, Nigerian Tribune findings have revealed that ambitious politicians have begun to strategise to position themselves or their cronies to become the vice-president, thereby placing them at a vantage position to pick the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket in 2011.

The contest for control, it was learnt, is among the groups of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the incumbent, President Yar’Adua, the Nothern establishment and those loyal to the Senate President David Mark.

President Yar’Adua has been suffering from kidney and heart related problem and has been in and out of hospitals at home and abroad in the last 10 years or more.
Worse still is the revelation, last week, by his physicians that he also has acute pericarditis, which is currently being treated at King Faisal Hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Feelers from the hospital, however, have revealed that all may not be well with the health of the Nigerian president, and sources said that he is at the intensive care unit, where he comes in and out of coma.

His condition, it was learnt, may have really degenerated, as very close relatives have been unable to see him at the hospital.

Nigerian Tribune reliably gathered that the succession struggle is being fuelled, because some of those who followed the president to Saudi Arabia for the treatment of the acute heart problem have returned with reports that are not too pleasant.
It was gathered that various power blocks and camps have been holding meetings permutating on what may be the solution in the face of any eventuality.

Most of the groups, except one, appear to appreciate the constitutional provisions which favour the vice-president, in this case, Goodluck Jonathan, from the South-South, taking over, if anything happens to the president.

The Obasanjo group, it was learnt, favours the Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, becoming vice-president for the remaining 15 months, after which the calculations may favour his getting the presidential ticket in 2011.

The Yar’Adua group, it was reliably gathered, is strategising along the same line, but would rather support Bauchi State governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, who is also a son-in-law to the president, as vice-president to Jonathan.

The far north establishment wants the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, to be deputy to Jonathan till 2011, when they hope he (Yayale) will clinch the ticket for presidency.

Some lawmakers, it was gathered, believe it could be dangerous to leave Vice-President Jonathan in the saddle till 2011, hence the alleged pressure on him to resign.

The calculation, it was learnt, is that, if he resigns, the Senate President, David Mark, will take over and, as a northerner, may also be interested in becoming the president in 2011.

For the Jonathan group, however, they are working on consolidating their position, which the 1999 Nigerian Constitution has strengthened, that Dr. Jonathan steps into office as president in the event of the incumbent president’s inability to continue in office by reasons stated in the constitution.

During most of the campaign towards the presidential election in 2007, President Yar’Adua was receiving treatments abroad.

However, against perceived surreptitious moves by politicians, especially within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to position themselves to succeed ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua, the party has warned that they stand no chance of becoming president, as no vacancy exists in the presidency.

It has also accused the opposition parties of raising tension by allegedly sensationalising President Yar’Adua’s presence in Saudi Arabia for medical attention, even as it noted that the president was responding to treatment and would soon return to the country to “continue the good work he is doing.”

A statement issued, on Monday, by the national leadership of the party and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, advised “those working themselves into frenzy on the basis of an illusionary vacancy in the presidency to calm down and pray for the peace and stability of the country, rather than dissipate energy on a wild goose chase.”

It said that it was “utterly unacceptable that instead of demonstrating selflessness and patriotism in moments like this, some politicians are engaged in creating undue and banal sophistry in the name of an imaginary succession crisis in Nigeria.”

Following reports that there was pressure on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to resign, the statement further said that the PDP was not involved in the speculated attempt to get anyone to resign from his position as there was no ground for it.

It said emphatically that “for the avoidance of doubt, the PDP wishes to state categorically that the party is not in any way involved in, neither is it contemplating any move to persuade or force any office holder to resign his or her office under whatever guise, as it is being erroneously insinuated in some sections of the media.

“There is no basis for such a wicked rumour as the circumstances warranting such a speculation have not arisen.”

Blaming the opposition for the current tension on the president’s trip, the PDP said it was shocking that some people have chosen to “over-sensationalise the situation and magnify it out of proportion in order to satisfy their selfish prejudices.”

It pointed out that it was amazed by “the hype and tension being deliberately generated by so-called members of opposition parties over the medical checkup currently being undertaken by the president.”

According to the PDP, “under normal circumstances, even in politics, we owe it a moral duty to each other as human beings to wish our fellow human beings well, irrespective of the extent of differences that may exist. Regrettably, recent events in the country have shown that for some Nigerian politicians, this is not so.”

The statement prayed for the safe return of President Yar’Adua, hoping that God would touch the hearts of “those peddling these rumours to repent from their evil ways.”

Meanwhile, worried by the rumours doing the rounds on the state of health of President Yar’Adua, President of the Senate, David Mark, said in Abuja, on Monday that the rumour merchants were the real enemies of the country.

He called on Nigerians to ignore such people, saying that they were trying to cause crisis in the relatively peaceful polity.

To him, “since the president left for Saudi Arabia for medical checkup, the organs of government have remained intact and functional. But, in spite of this, some Nigerians have resorted to all kind of rumours that can neither strengthen our development processes nor guarantee our much-sought reforms. I urge you to ignore these rumour mongers, as they do not mean well for our country and her people.”

The Senate President, through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, in a statement made available to newsmen, called for a special prayer for the quick recovery of President Yar’Adua.

He said: “It is incredulous for any man to wish his fellow brother dead. It is also not in our culture as Africans to engage in such idle talks over the lives of others.

“The decision of President Yar’Adua to make his health status public is borne out of patriotism and transparency and in view of that, he deserves commendation as well as the prayers of all well-meaning Nigerians.

“I believe the president means well for this nation and our polity. He has demonstrated this in words and in action. I, therefore, find it indecorous for certain Nigerians to engage in speculative diagnosis over the president’s prevailing state of health.”