Quit Now! More Groups Tell Yar’Adua

More Nigerians and groups have joined the clamour for ailing President Umar Yar’Adua to resign and look after his health, instead of holding the country to ransom.

President Yar’Adua is currently hospitalised in a Saudi Arabia hospital for acute inflammation of the pericudium, the outer covering of his heart.

Apart from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) which advised Yar’Adua to resign in view of the critical nature of his illness which had made him abandon governance, many Nigerians and groups are also of the view that the president should quit now and allow Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, continue the administration of the country.

In a statement made available to P.M.NEWS, the Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress (AC) expressed dismay that President Yar’Adua did not hand over to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan before his departure to Saudi Arabia.

The statement which was signed by its spokesman, Joe Igbokwe, said Nigerians need to know what is happening at the presidency, “with the president being away.”

“We call that the Vice President should take full charge of the affairs of state.”

A group of 53 prominent Nigerians, including the former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, had earlier appealed to President Yar’Adua to resign from office and allow a more capabe hand to administer the country.

The group explained that it was clear to every discerning observer that President Yar’Adua’s physical condition has had a negative impact on his ability to discharge the functions of the highest office in the land.

They accused the president of being unable to attend to crucial affairs of the state at home and abroad “and whenever he has found time to do so, his judgment appears impaired by his ill-health.”

They also accused Yar’Adua of not informing the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of his numerous trips abroad on health grounds in the past four months, an action that is against the provision of the constitution.

“It is also common knowledge that the incapacity of the president has affected the implementation of the nation’s budget because he has been unable to coordinate the management of the national economy and to preside over the Federal Executive council in a diligent manner,” the group, which included former finance minister, Chief Olu Falae, stated.

A group of Northerners have also thrown their weight behind Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to take over from Yar’Adua, if the latter cannot continue in office.

Notable members of the group whose membership is drawn from across the 19 Northern states are Alhaji Abba Kyari, Col. Hamid Ali and Malam Mohammed Haruna. They submitted that in the event the President is unable to continue in office, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan should immediately be sworn in as president, as provided by Section 144 (section 146) of the 1999 constitution.

“Any other ploy to bypass the constitution will have grave consequences for the evolution, unity and integrity of Nigeria,” they added.