Date Published: 01/11/10

"President Yar'Adua still alive"

...Governors meet on political deadlock

Aides of Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua moved fast M onday to dispel rumours of his death in Saudi Arabia, where he has been receiving treatment for 'acute pericardities' or the inflammation of the heart's membrane for the almost 50 days.

News spread fast across Africa's most populous nation of 150 million people Mond ay that the President has died, after a reported posting on the website of an American newspaper, Americanchronicle.com, to the e ffect that the President has died.

But presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi urged Nigerians to discountenance th e rumour, saying it is ''not only false but also a figment of the writer's imagi n ation''.

Adeniyi, who responded to inquiries about Yar'Adua from Angola, where he is atte nding the current African Cup of Nations, said his boss was ''not only alive and

well but very conscious and getting better''

However, a local newspaper said governors of the nation's 36 states were meeting in the capital city of Abuja, under the aegis of the umbrella Nigeria Governors ' Forum, to deliberate on the issue.

''They are expected to discuss how to resolve the political deadlock arising fro m the President's failure to officially hand over to the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to function as acting President in his ab sence, as stipulated by the constitution,'' the evening newspaper PM News reported.

President Yar'Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia 28 Nov. 2009, but the government ha s kept information about his condition under wraps.

His long absence has sparked a near constitutional crisis, as no one is in charg e of the country right now because the President failed to formally transfer power to his deputy.

The President's failure to hand over has been challenged in court, while a coali tion of civil society organisations have announced plans to stage a protest marc h to Abuja Tuesday, the same the bicameral legislature was billed to discuss the i ssue.

Earlier on Sunday, a local newspaper reported that the President has suffered a brain damage.

''President Umaru Yar'Adua is seriously brain damaged, is not able to recognise anyone, including his wife Turai, and can no longer perform the functions of the office of the president,'' the private NEXT newspaper repor ted. ''But this fact, which has left a nation of 150 million people rudderless and its government in disarray, is being concealed from the public th rough an elaborate scam orchestrated directly and energetically by the First Lady.''

In 'Aso Rock', the seat of power in Abuja, everything was calm Monday as the Vic e President remained in his office.

Meanwhile, the opposition Action Congress (AC) has demanded ''a concrete evidenc e'' that the President is alive.

In a statement issued in Lagos Monday, the party said the President should addre ss Nigerians via a video recording from his hospital bed in Saudi Arabia.