Nigerian leader may soon leave hospital

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is expected to be discharged from a hospital in Saudi Arabia very soon after showing significant recovery from a heart ailment, a Nigerian ambassador said Thursday.

Yar'Adua has been absent from Nigeria for nearly two months receiving treatment for a heart condition in Saudi Arabia. He made his first public comment Tuesday since leaving Nigeria on November 23, saying he was recovering and hoped to return soon.

Yar'Adua's refusal to transfer powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has sparked more uncertainty over who is in charge of Africa's most populous nation.

"His health has tremendously improved," Abdullah Aminchi, Nigerian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Reuters. "We know definitely he will be discharged very soon. I cannot give a date or time, only the doctors can tell."

A federal court ruled Wednesday that Jonathan can perform all the executive duties for ailing Yar'Adua without an official transfer of powers. [ID:nLDE60C292]

But the judge also said the vice president cannot be the "acting president," provoking widespread confusion over what exactly Jonathan's responsibilities will be while Yar'Adua recovers in hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Nigerians are now looking to Jonathan to clear up the uncertainty, but the vice presidency has yet to comment on the ruling.

"The judgement of yesterday has not cleared up anything. The country remains rudderless. It has no leadership for now," said Rotimi Akeredolu, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, which has filed legal action against the government and Yar'Adua for not transferring powers.

LEGAL BATTLES

The case is one of four lawsuits over Yar'Adua's absence. Judge Abutu's ruling Wednesday is likely to undermine the other three, which were adjourned Thursday to next week.

Jonathan has been representing Yar'Adua at cabinet meetings and official functions but executive powers have not been officially given to him, leading to questions over the legality of decisions made by the government in Yar'Adua's absence.

Under the constitution, Yar'Adua must write a letter to the National Assembly stating that he is transferring his presidential powers to the vice president.

"It is one thing for this court to rule, but another for the vice president to gather up the courage and take over presidential powers," said Reuben Abati, chairman of the editorial board for Nigeria's Guardian newspaper.

"The vice president has been very careful not to show he is over-ambitious."

Transferring power from Yar'Adua, a Muslim northerner, to Jonathan, from the predominantly Christian south, would be highly sensitive in a country where rival groups have maintained a careful balance since the return of civilian rule in 1999.

"The current president and those who surround him are not willing to transfer the powers of the president to the vice president," said Ayodele Thompson, director for the Lagos-based think tank Initiative for Public Policy Analysis.

"They see the presidency now as that of the north. If the vice president should take over that means that the term of the north is cut short," he added.

Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa was the only top government official to comment on Wednesday's ruling, saying the vice president can now sign appropriations bills and do all the same functions as Yar'Adua.

But lawyers say the court ruling only opens the door for more legal action should Jonathan decide to perform executive duties.

(Additional reporting by Randy Fabi, Camillus Eboh, Chijioke Ohuocha, Felix Onuah, and Tume Ahemba; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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