The controversies that surrounded the long absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua from the country have continued unabated, The civil society, other organised groups and individuals in the country have been clamouring for the resignation of the president because of his ill-health and also demanded that his deputy, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan should be sworn in as acting president in accordance with the provision of the constitution.

But government officials led by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Michael Aondooakaa  vehemently opposed the call and submitted that government was on course. According to the minister, the president is empowered to rule from any where in the world. The official stand of the government further provoked more outrages as organised groups staged public protest to demand for the whereabouts of the president.

 However, last Monday, there was a publication by the American Chronicle alleging that president Yar’Adua had died since December 10, 2009, but his death was concealed by his family and close aides of the President. The publication created panic and tension in the country until early on Tuesday when the ailing Yar’Adua had to dispel the news of his death by granting a telephone interview with a correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

In his first official interview since he was rushed to the Saudi Hospital last year November, Yar'Adua said that he was still recovering from his illness. Although he did not say when he should be expected back to the country, he however thanked his deputy   "for the way he had piloted the affairs of the country since his absence.”

He said “My fellow Nigerians, I want to inform you that I am getting better and any time Allah wills and my doctors discharge me, I will return home to continue my duties. I am also grateful to all those Nigerians who have prayed for me. I also want to wish our team, the Super Eagles success in the ongoing African Cup of Nations currently taking place in Angola. Thank you.
“Well, with regards to my situation, God willing, I am getting better. But any time my body gets healthy, I will return home to Nigeria that is when my doctors discharge me.

“I have spoken to him (Vice President Goodluck Jonathan). (In fact) I have been speaking to him and everything is moving in order based on the provision of the constitution of the country,” Yar’Adua said in the three minute interview
 However, if government expected the early morning interview to douse the tension and end the controversies which the continue absence of the president had caused, it was not so as members of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) led by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, staged a peaceful protest at the premises of  the National Assembly.

Also, the opposition Action Congress (AC) and other individuals have vehemently kicked against Yar’Adua’s decision to speak to Nigerians through a foreign media Instead of appearing on a local media.
 The AC in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, described Yar’Adua’s interview with the BBC, to show that he is alive and recovering from his illness, as the latest example of the contempt, which Nigerians leaders have for their people.

AC wondered why Yar’Adua, who has been away for 50 days, would choose to address Nigerians through a foreign medium. It also recalled urging the President Yar’Adua to speak to Nigerians through the NTA or Radio Nigeria, if he does not want to do so via a dated video format as evidence that he is recovering.

It is unconscionable and an indication of total disregards for Nigerians the fact that their President chose a foreign medium to address them at such a critical time like this. Will the British Prime Minister address his people through Radio Nigeria or NTA?
``This vestige of colonial mentality - a streak that is common with African leaders - must stop forthwith. It belittles our people and sells us cheaply!,’’ the party said, recalling that the President also chose a foreign newspaper - Financial Times - to break his silence on his state of health shortly after assuming office.

AC also took on Yar’Adua’s s information managers for allowing the president to speak to Nigerians through a foreign media. It insisted that Yar’Adua should address Nigerians on his state of health.
``Apparently, the BBC interview was intended by President Yar’Adua to address foreigners. Now, the President must speak to his own people, Nigerians, through any of the national broadcast stations, the News Agency of Nigeria or local newspapers. Anything short of that is totally unacceptable,’’ AC declared.

Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, known for his radicalism on national issues at the protest rally said the Senate had capitalized on the case in the court as an excuse for not discussing the health of the President Yar’Adua.

“They did not go to court, but are using our case as example to abdicate their duties on how to ensure constitutionalism. Enough is enough of absentee president. We are not a colonial or a conquered people. This rally is a wake-up call that Nigerians are free people who fought for this rickety democracy. We were told that the President has spoken to the BBC, we question that interview, and we want him to speak to the Nigerian people. We need a live broadcast. The country is sick; there is collapse of social infrastructure.

“The Chief Law Officer of the Federation and Minister of Justice said that the President can rule from any where, but when the Oyo State House of Assembly impeached former Governor Rasheed Ladoja from a House room, the Supreme Court faulted the impeachment that the lawmakers cannot operate from a hotel room, but here is the President signing the budget from Saudi Arabia”.
Rhetorically Falana quipped “if the ECOWAS would be searching for a replacement of the chairman of ECOWAS, because they don’t want an absentee president, why not Nigeria.” _He announced that protest rallies would take place simultaneously on Friday in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Australia and other major cities of the world.

The spokesman of the Buhari Organisation, Mr. Buba Galadima, who cautioned against seeing the protest rally as against the North said “We are all one Nigeria and the problem demands a Nigerian solution, which means that the Vice-President should be empowered to act constitutionally as the President, pending when the President is back and fit to rule Nigeria.”

The Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, who also addressed the rally said the “issues at hand are more than viewing it from the prospective of Christian and Muslim. What is happening is to bring sense to the senseless cabal illegally ruling this country against the principles of the rule of law.
"It is not that we are campaigning for the Vice-President, but let him assume office as stated in the constitution that governs this country. We want the constitution to take place. Enough is enough, leadership vacuum is dangerous.”

Civil Society activists such as Osita Okechukwu, Mike Igini, Ayo Obe in their different speeches condemned the President Yar’Adua for speaking with foreign media first instead of Nigerian media given the confusion and anxiety his long absence has created in the polity.
Obe who was particularly not happy with Yar’Adua’s conduct asked: “Why not the NTA, AIT or Channels TV, why not FRCN or other stations in Nigeria?”_Falana said: “We need him to speak to us live. We need a live broadcast. We need to see him speak and not BBC. Let him speak to us live from the NTA or AIT or any other station. Nigerians need him to address and speak to us."
The Senate which many Nigerians were looking up to salvage the situation with the political vacuum left as a result of Yar’Adua’s inability to hand over properly to Vice President Jonathan, when the issue came at its plenary to be discussed, failed woefully to address the matter conclusively. Instead, Nigerians were treated to another drama packed with sycophancy.

When the motion on the President’s absence was tabled, the motion that a delegation of the Upper House be sent to Saudi Arabia to ascertain the health situation of Yar’Adua was frustrated. Sponsors said that their motion was solely for delegates to visit and not to investigate the president’s health situation.

The motion was sponsored by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and 33 other senators.  Twenty-five of them are from the South while nine co-sponsors of the motion are Northerners.

Mark, who ruled on series of constitutional points of order raised intermittently by senators, maintained that attempts should not be made to introduce the provisions of Section 143, 144 and 145 of the 1999 Constitution into the debate as they were not within the purview of the powers of the Senate.

The Senate finally approved the prayer that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mahmud Yayale Ahmed be invited to brief it on the President’s health situation.  No date was given for his appearance. _Mark in the heat of the debate said that members had either supported or opposed the motion “in the spirit that it has come and it will not be true that it has been turned into a sectional issue”.

But the House of Representatives was bold enough to resolve that some members should pay a solidarity visit to Yar’Adua at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and ascertain his health condition.