World
Petroleumworld
Bookstore
Institutional
links
OPEC
Petroleumworld
Business Partners
THE FORUMBlogspots
recomended
Le Blog des
Energies Nouvelles
  |
|
Nigerian minister calls for ill president to transfer powers
LAGOS
Petroleumworld.com, Feb 04, 2010Nigeria's information minister has called on ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua to transfer power, a senior official said Thursday, in the first sign of a cabinet split over his prolonged absence from the country.
Dora Akunyili, who as information minister doubles as the government's spokeswoman, called on her cabinet colleagues to revoke a decision in which it said Yar'Adua was healthy enough to remain in power.
Nigerian newspapers reported she circulated a memorandum with the request to her ministerial colleagues at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Akunyili was not available for comment early Thursday, but a senior official who declined to be named told AFP: "What is reported in the press is correct."
The president has been receiving treatment for a serious heart condition in a Saudi Arabian hospital since flying out of Nigeria on November 23.
According to the reports, the memorandum asks the government to demand a letter from the president justifying his absence on medical grounds and allowing Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to act as "interim president".
World powers last week waded into the row over the president's health, lamenting the "uncertainty" caused by his lengthy absence from the helm of Africa's second-biggest oil exporter.
A statement signed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton expressed concern about Yar'Adua's absence.
The joint statement came after his hand-picked cabinet deemed him fit enough to remain in office, after the High Court ordered the executive body to decide on his ability to discharge his duties.
Opposition groups have argued that the president's illness has made him incapable of ruling the country.
Story from AFP
AFP 02/04/2010 10:56
Send this story to a friend
Copyright© 1999-2009 Petroleumworld or respective author or news agency. All rights reserved.
We welcome the use of Petroleumworld™ stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source. Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors.Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated
Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments,
share your thoughts on this article, your feedback is important to us!We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article. Write to editor@petroleumworld.comBy using this link, you agree to allow PW
to publish your comments on our letters page.
Any question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.comBest Viewed with IE 5.01+
Windows NT 4.0, '95, '98,ME,XP, Vista +/ 800x600 pixels