Nigeria: Yar'Adua Returns Home

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This Day (Lagos)

6 September 2008
Posted to the web 6 September 2008

Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, Yemi Adebowale And Chuks Okocha
Abuja

After a two and half week foreign sojourn leading to wild speculations about his health and even phantom death, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua returned to the country at approximately 6 a.m. this morning from Saudi Arabia in the company of his family and close aides.

The president had left the country over a fortnight ago to perform the lesser hajj but may have received medical attention, leading to speculations over the state of his health.

He was said to have boarded the presidential jet to return to Nigeria around 12 midnight (Saudi time) and was scheduled to have landed at the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja before the crack of dawn this morning.

Although uncertainties continue to persist about the state of the president's health, sources informed THISDAY that the presidency is committed to opening up to the nation in the weeks ahead as there is nothing to hide about the president's condition.

Before the president's departure from the Saudi Kingdom, however, he had yesterday morning met with the national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vincent Ogbulafor and two other executives of the party - Ahmed Rufai Alkali and Musa Babayaro - who had gone to meet with him and ascertain the true state of his health.

The delegation which arrived Saudi Arabia late on Thursday from Abuja had breakfast with Yar'Adua yesterday morning after a brief meeting.

The PDP national chairman who spoke exclusively to THISDAY yesterday evening said the president was in good health and "doing very well."

Ogbulafor said: "We had breakfast with the President this morning. He's responding positively to treatment. Don't forget he's also a human being."

The whole country lately has been awash with rumours of the president's well being and possible "death" following reports that he had undergone surgery and had gone into coma.

But the President while speaking with Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY, on the telephone last Sunday described reports of his rumoured death as "grossly exaggerated."

When asked by Mr. Obaigbena if everything was all right with him, the President replied: "All is well. I'm very okay."

Sources revealed that although the President travelled to Saudi Arabia ostensibly to perform the lesser Hajj, he might have received medical attention, leading to speculations over the state of his health.

Also early in the week, the Federal Government in a statement allayed concerns over his health, stating "the President is very well and in good health to steer the affairs of the state."

The Minister of Information and Communication John Odey dispelled the rumour about Yar'Adua's health in a two-paragraph statement in Abuja.

He said: "The Federal Government wishes to appreciate the concern that has been raised in the newspapers and some sections of the media over the past few days on the state of health of Mr. President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar Adua, and to restate here that Mr. President is very well and healthy.

"He is in good health to steer the affairs of the state to bring about better livelihood for the generality of the people of Nigeria. He is expected back in Nigeria soon after his trip to Saudi Arabia where he has gone on lesser hajj."

The statement was, however, silent on reports in some newspapers that the President underwent surgery in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

The matter of Yar'Adua's health has become an issue since the days following his nomination as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the April 19 2007 presidential election when he was rumoured to have died during a medical trip to Germany in the thick of the campaign.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had to publicly call Yar'Adua at a presidential campaign rally in Abeokuta where the latter who was then receiving medical treatment abroad dispelled rumours of his death.

But speculations about President Yar'Adua's ill-health were rekindled more recently last May when he had to keep an appointment with his doctors in Germany again over what was ostensibly attributed to an allergic reaction.

Since his current trip to Saudi Arabia, the rumour mill has been agog over the exact nature of his illness and when he'll be in a position to return to Nigeria.

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