Nigerian Court Issues Deadline to Cabinet, Orders Resolution to be Passed Concerning President Umaru Yar’Adua’s Ability to Lead

In an attempt to calm fears of a power vacuum Nigeria’s federal court has ordered the country’s cabinet to pass a resolution concerning the leadership ability of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Yar’Adua has been in Saudi Arabia for the past two months receiving treatment for a heart condition, leaving the leadership of the country in question. With each passing day his return appears less likely and that has left many questioning whether he is capable of carrying out the duties of the office.

The Federal High Court has forced the country’s cabinet to answer that question as they ordered a resolution passed within the next two weeks regarding the president’s ability to lead Nigeria. The court ordered the cabinet to hear testimony from five doctors, one being the personal physician of Yar’Adau, prior to making their decision.

If Yar’Adua is declared unfit to lead the country then the duties of the president would fall to the vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Yar’Adua had been handpicked by his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, to succeed him and he has since taken a lot of criticism for selecting someone who was ill. Much of that criticism has turned to accusations that he knowingly selected an ill Yar’Adua, an accusation he has denied.

Addressing those accusations Obasanjo said, “To say that I, Olusegun Obasanjo, deliberately picked somebody who is an invalid, is the height of insult.” He recently encouraged Yar’Adua to step down if his health prevents him from his presidential duties, saying “If you take up a job, elected... and then your health starts to fail you and you will not able to deliver, to satisfy yourself and satisfy the people you are supposed to serve, then there is a path of honor and path of morality.”

While Yar’Adua’s health certainly appears to prevent him from leading the country the situation becomes complicated by Nigeria’s custom of rotating leadership positions between northerners and southerners. Because Yar’Adua is a northerner and Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan is a southerner there are those attempting to block the VP from assuming power because it would limit the north’s time in power.

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