The aged mother of ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has been moved to Saudi Arabia to be at his bedside further heightening anxiety in his Katsina home state that his health may not be getting better.
Other members of his extended family, including his younger sister, are also said to have joined his mother in Jeddah, a development that is causing anxiety in the rural state. A security operative attached to their family house situated in Yar‘Adua Quarters in Katsina, the state capital, confirmed this to BusinessDay at the weekend.
The operative disclosed that presently no member of the president’s extended family is in the state, as they have all traveled to Saudi-Arabia to be with him.
The operative who told our correspondent that all security operatives attached to the house are under instruction not to disclose any information on the whereabouts of the extended family to any visitor, also does not know when they will return to the state.
Another indication that seems to confirm the increasing anxiety over the president was the Friday stance of the governors of the 36 states of the federation at their meeting in Abuja. They had jointly called on National Assembly to pass a resolution that will authorize Vice President Jonathan Goodluck to start functioning as acting president of the country.
It would be recalled that Governor Bukola Saraki, chairman, Governors Forum, in a submission presented to the vice president, said the forum had resolved that the National Assembly should make a legislative pronouncement that will enable him start acting for the ailing president in all capacities.
President Umaru Yar’Adua has been out of the country since November 23, 2009, precipitating unending speculations on the true state of his health, and as to when he will be returning.
Some concerned residents of the state said the inability of the resident to return to the state on January 29, 2010, as was widely speculated, also points to the reality that his condition may have not improved. However, an elderly male member of the house, whom is said to be one of the personal security guards said the major concern of family members is for him to return healthy.
“Our prayer and that of other concerned people in the state, is for him to come back well. The issue before us now is not about the Presidency,” the man, who spoke in Hausa told BusinessDay.
Nura Bello, a petrol hawker on the major road leading to the family house, said the people of the state are very worried about the health of the president and his long absence.
Meanwhile, socio-economic activities in the state are going on normally as residents were seen attending to their businesses, amidst of a long queue of motorists waiting to buy fuel at the NNPC mega station.
The mega station is the only product marketing outlet selling the commodity to motorists in the state capital. Some large bill boards carrying the photographics of the president, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the ones carrying his picture and that of the state governor, Ibrahim Shema, were seen displayed on some major roads leading to the family home.