Date Published: 01/03/10

Yar'Adua: Doctors, Medical Staff, Aides, take oath of secrecy

President Yar'Adua

An Islamic oath of secrecy has been allegedly administered on everyone associated with President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua whose condition at a Saudi Arabian hospital where he is being treated for a heart and kidney ailment continues to relapse.

The oath of secrecy was said to have been carried out by Saudi Government officials after the Yar’Adua family protested over what it felt was an “exposure of the President’s health conditions in the media;” a source informed Pointblanknews.com.

The Saudi Government had also asked it media and other agencies to black-out any information or report of the Nigerian President’s medical condition.

On September 23, 2009 President Yar’Adua administered oath of secrecy on some Aso Rock staff, triggering accusations he wants to run a government shrouded in secrecy and breaking promise he would head an administration open to all Nigerians.

The oath-taking had followed weeks of speculations surrounding the health status of Yar’Adua who spent two weeks in Saudi Arabia for what the government information managers called a lesser Hajj but which critics alleged was a medical trip during which he was operated upon. The speculation was triggered by Aso Rock initially refusing to declare the whereabouts of the President.

However, the new oath of secrecy in Saudi Arabia now prohibits anyone, including Saudi hospital officials who have knowledge of the sickly Nigerian President medical conditions from sharing or revealing same to anyone. An Islamic oath of secrecy is considered very sacred amongst Muslims.

Sources informed Pointblanknews.com that the oath of secrecy is responsible for the dearth of information on the true state of President Yar’Adua his whereabout fuelling speculations that he may have not been at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Pointblanknews.com had reported earlier that officials of the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has spent more than a month attending to his health now do not want to be bothered over enquiries about the state of health of the sick Nigeria President or his whereabout.

Two medical doctors and three Nurses and other auxiliary medical staff attached to the ailing Nigerian President in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have all been placed on indefinite suspension while the Chief Security officer and the Aide-De-Camp can no longer see the Nigerian president as frequent as they used to.

Sources told pointblanknews.com that the new development is in line with the oath of secrecy as the Yar’Adua family in conjunction with a few political friends is determined to keep the President Yar’Adua’s condition out of public knowledge.

Another source hinted that such measure is aimed at ensuring that Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan who is not in the know of how the ailing President is fairing in Saudi Arabia is completely blocked from assuming the leadership of the country pending when a group of Yar’Adua loyalist map out their own strategy to retain power.

“They just want to completely ensure that the VP doesn’t take over so the new move is to ensure no one knows the state of health of the president and those who know are banned from speaking out,” a government source said.

According to the source, “this people believe that if no one knows how sick the President is and his current situation, they can push for him to continue to be around, so this is their new strategy.”