With the expected arrival of the six-man delegation from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Jeddah today to see President Umaru Yar’Adua at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, there is growing concern in government circles that the situation of the president amounts to ‘kidnapping’ of Nigeria’s leader. In a divided FEC, Ahmed Yayale, secretary to the government and Dora Akunyili, information minister, are among those who believe that the true state of the president’s health should be made public in the interest of the country. Yayale is in the government delegation to see Yar’Adua.
The team was scheduled to leave Abuja last night aboard a presidential jet armed with a letter from Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. In the letter, the acting president thanked the Saudi monarch for playing host to Yar’Adua and told him about the intention of the FEC team to see the president in the hospital.
The aspect of Jonathan’s letter that is raising concern among Nigerians is that Nigeria has to seek the permission of the Saudi king before any meeting with Yar’Adua can take place in the hospital.
The FEC team is the fourth team from Nigeria that has gone to see Yar’Adua. The three previous teams left Jeddah at various times without seeing Yar’Adua. The first was the governors’ team led by Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki. The second was the team of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led by its national chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor. The third team was the delegation of the House of Representatives, which met with the First Lady, Turai Yar’Adua. She reportedly told the lawmakers that only the Saudi monarch could okay any meeting with Yar’Adua. So far, the only people who have access to Yar’Adua are Turai; his chief security officer, Yusuf Tilde; his aide-de-camp, Mustapha Onoviveta and Nigeria’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Garba Aminci.
Abike Dabiri, a federal lawmaker, told BusinessDay that the saddest aspect of Yar’Adua’s illness is that it is only the Saudi monarch that could give permission before anyone sees the president because he (Yar’Adua) is in the royal suite reserved only for the king’s guests. She said the implication is that Nigeria’s sovereignty now lies with the king of Saudi Arabia.
Her view is echoed by Kayode Ajulo, an Abuja-based lawyer, who told BusinessDay that Yar’Adua symbolises Nigeria’s sovereignty, adding that in the hospital where he is admitted, Nigeria’s flag should be flying as a matter of convention. Ajulo said the question that should agitate Nigerians is whether Yar’Adua has been kidnapped by the Saudi authorities. He said Saudi Arabia might use Yar’Adua’s condition as a point of bargain considering that both countries are rivals in oil production. “When their (Saudi) prince was ill, he went to the US for medical attention. He has just returned. While he was in the US, there was daily briefing on his condition up to the time he returned to Saudi Arabia”, Ajulo said, noting that it meant the Saudis know that their medical system is not the best available.
A government source told BusinessDay that Jonathan wants to be sure that Yar’Adua is getting the best medical attention that is possible.
The source said if any group would see Yar’Adua it is the present FEC team because of the letter from Jonathan, adding that it would cause diplomatic row between the two countries if the Saudi monarch does not honour the letter from Nigeria’s acting president.