NIGERIA’S AILING President Umaru Yar’Adua (58) arrived in Abuja yesterday, renewing uncertainty over who was in charge of Africa’s most populous country.
TV footage showed an ambulance leaving the capital’s airport at about 2am local time, shortly after two aircraft landed. There were no images of Mr Yar’Adua, who has not been seen publicly since he flew to Saudi Arabia for heart and kidney treatment on November 23rd. There were no immediate suggestions he would resume normal duties, but his return has prompted fears of an ongoing power struggle in cabinet.
Two weeks ago, vice-president Goodluck Jonathan was made acting head of state by the senate, amid opposition by several Yar’Adua loyalists.
One, justice minister Michael Aondoakaa, was swiftly demoted, raising concerns that disaffected ministers had pressured the president to fly home.
“We hope that President Yar’Adua’s return to Nigeria is not an effort by his senior advisers to upset Nigeria’s stability and create renewed uncertainty in the democratic process,” said Johnnie Carson, the US’s top envoy to Africa, in a statement released by the US embassy in Lagos.
Mr Yar’Adua’s absence has created a power vacuum in Nigeria, where a peace process with militants in the oil rich Niger Delta has begun to lose steam. Attacks on oil facilities have resumed, prompting fears that oil production would remain below desired levels.