The presidential candidate for Nigeria’s ruling party will return to campaigning on Saturday after unexpectedly leaving for four days of rest and medical checks in Germany, his spokesman said on Friday.
Umaru Yar’Adua’s surprise departure prompted speculation that he might be replaced as the candidate for next month’s elections, but the party has insisted it is standing by the 56-year-old state governor.
“He will be coming back tomorrow. He is feeling very well and has had enough rest,” said Ndu Ughamadu.
Yar’Adua went to Germany after doctors advised him to take a few days off to rest and undergo specialist tests for a persistent cold.
Nigerians are due to elect a new president on April 21, marking the first transfer of power in Africa’s most populous nation from one elected leader to another.
Ughamadu said Yar’Adua would rejoin the campaign trail in the southwestern city of Ekiti on Saturday or nearby Akure on Sunday.
His health had been the subject of speculation since he emerged as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate because he suffered from kidney problems in the past, and the trip to Germany reinforced doubts about his fitness.
Yar’Adua is from Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north, which expects to produce the next president after eight years of Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian from the south.
The unspoken fear of some northern groups is that Yar’Adua could become president but die on the job, making way for the vice president to take over. That would be Goodluck Jonathan, a southern state governor, and he would deny the north its turn in power.
However, the electoral body has said the deadline for replacing candidates has passed.
The electoral law states that parties cannot replace their candidates within 60 days of an election. Only if a candidate dies can the election be postponed for the party to find a replacement.