Nigerian President
Says He Is Well
Aliyu Othman, Abuja
The
Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has put an end to
speculations about his state of health and where about, saying
he is hale, hearty and will be ready to resume office soon.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN quoted the Nigerian President as
saying in an interview with the BBC Hausa service, that he was
recovering and hoped his health would make ‘tremendous progress’
to enable him return home.
Confidence
President Yar’Adua also used the interview to express confidence
in the ability of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to continue
performing presidential functions until his return from Saudi
Arabia, where he has been receiving medical treatment since over
six weeks ago.
The interview with the BBC comes as oppositions and pro
democracy activists hold a peaceful rally in Abuja, demanding
for constitutional order, on the President’s absence from the
country.
They are also demanding evidence about his true state of health.
A ruse
Presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi had, also in a
statement on Monday, confirmed that President Yar’Adua was
alive, against the backdrop of a rumour of his death.
Adeniyi who spoke from Luanda Angola, said, ’’ President
Yar’Adua is not only alive but also getting better, he could
talk and had been talking.’’
Adeniyi was reacting to a story in the American Chronicle,
alleging that President Yar’Adua had died in a Saudi Arabian
Hospital.
He described the story as false and a figment of the writer’s
imagination asking Nigerians to discountenance it.
The Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Alhaji Tanimu
Yakubu also said it was not true that President Yar’Adua passed
on.
Qasim/Yinka
