PDP Says Nigerian President will Return Soon

As Scheduled meeting between the Vice President, Governors and top government officials is suddenly cancelled.

Abuja (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s ruling party, The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said ailing Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua would return to the country soon, but was not specific on the date and time of return.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali which was made available Monday, the party said, “Reports reaching us have it that the president is improving steadily and will soon return to continue the good work he is doing. We pray for the safe return of the president and pray that the Almighty God touches the hearts of those peddling these rumours to repent from their ways”

Yar’Adua, 58, is being treated for acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart. His personal physician says he is responding well to treatment at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

President Yar’Adua is also speculated to have churg-strauss syndrome, an ailment he has struggled to find a permanent cure for.

Political analysts say the president may not be well enough to run in the 2011 polls for a second term in office.

On Sunday some politicians who are known to be close to him left Nigeria in private jets to see him in Jeddah.

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, some political parties, politicians and policy analysts have called on the ailing president to resign or at least transfer power in the interim to the Vice President in the interest of the nation.

THEWILL’s investigations show that the tension generated over the president’s refusal to transfer power may have led to the cancellation of an earlier scheduled meeting for Monday between the Vice President, Governors and some top government officials in Abuja.

The meeting we gather would have dealt with state matters and policy issues. No explanations were given for the sudden cancellation of the meeting.

There were reports in a Nigerian newspaper at the weekend which the Vice President dismissed as mere speculations that the he was being pressured to resign from office so as not to be in a position to receive power, if the president agrees to resign.

The Nigerian Constitution clearly defines when the Vice President can become President.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated population of 150 million people.