The Federal Government has insisted that President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua is hale and hearty, contrary to speculations that he is indisposed.
Speaking with newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Information, Mr. John Odey, said the President is in Saudi Arabia performing the lesser hajj, one of the obligations of his religion as a Muslim, and is due back in the country any moment from now.
Rumours have been making the rounds that the President had been admitted into an undisclosed Saudi Arabian hospital for treatment, which had resulted in the postponement of his earlier scheduled trip to Brazil.
Odey said there was no cause for alarm on the state of health of the President.
Foreign Affairs minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Maduekwe, who was also supposed to be in Brazil with Yar�Adua, added that the rescheduling of the trip was not unusual as some state functions or travels were sometimes adjusted and readjusted to accommodate other schedules.
�I am here now on state matters. State matters mean that things are adjusted and readjusted. There are some reports that our journey to Brazil has been cancelled. It is not cancelled, it is just readjusted,� he said.
A new date for the visit, he noted, was being sorted out by the two governments after it had been put off due to �certain developments�.
�Brazil is a very important country to us and we intend to keep that. Our respect for them remains very strong and our inability to come on this trip does not in any way affect our respect for them and they are looking forward to when the president will make the trip�.
�Governance is dynamic. You cannot be a prisoner to any particular programme. The postponement has nothing to do with the health of the president,� he added.
Corroborating Maduekwe�s assertion on the state of health of President Yar�Adua, Odey said: �To the best of my knowledge, the President is still performing the lesser hajj.�
Aug282008