Strong indications emerged at the weekend that the visit of the six ministers mandated by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to visit ailing President Musa Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia may end up as a infutility.
A source in the Presidency who is also close to the first family, but pleaded anonymity, said the First Lady, Hajia Tura’i Yar’Adua, had given stern instructions to officials at the hospital where the president was admitted in Jeddah not to allow the visiting ministers access to the president.
Members of the government’s team include, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ahmed Yayale, Agriculture and Water Resources Minster, Sayyadi Abba-Ruma, Health Minister, Babatunde Osotimehin, Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Adetokunbo Kayode and Petroleum Minster, Rilwanu Lukman.
Information available to Daily Sun as at press time on the movement of the ministers to Saudi Arabia were sketchy as it could not be confirmed whether they had left or not. But the arrangement by the FEC was for the ministers to leave on Sunday and return by Tuesday and then brief the council on the outcome of the trip on Wednesday.
Ahead of the visit, the Federal Government has formally written to the Saudi Monarch, King Fahd Abdulaziz, seeking permission for the delegate to ascertain the health status of President Yar’Adua.
The decision of the government to write ahead of the visit was to ensure access to the president who was reported to have been moved to a restricted military facility in the Saudi kingdom.
It was not clear whether the letter forwarded to the Saudi king would facilitate access to Yar’Adua, but the Daily Sun source said Hajia Turai was also contemplating leaving the city of Jeddah for the period that would be spent by the ministers, to avoid being persuaded by them, which could in turn make her change her earlier decision.
Daily Sun equally learnt that, the first lady was strategizing on ways to frustrate the efforts of the visiting ministers. Her actions, according to the source, was to thwart any move by the FEC to declare Yar’Adua unfit to rule after the ministers would have retuned from Saudi Arabia and made their observations known.
“You know if the ministers are unable to see the president, it may be extremely difficult for FEC to declare Yar’Adua unfit to rule,” the source said.
President Yar’Adua has been on admission for acute pericarditis in Saudi Arabia since November 23, 2009.
Also, it was learnt that, the Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, was reluctant to go for the trip because his appointment as a minister was fast-tracked by the first lady, who was said to have a hand in his nomination for the post.
Again, the source added that, Osotimehin was also reluctant because being a medical doctor himself, the responsibility of writing the report based on his observations on the state of health of the president would definitely fall on him. And that, the source said, was capable of pitching him against the first lady, who could feel the ministers was disloyal.
Daily Sun’s gathered that only three people have access to the president in the Saudi hospital; the chief security officer to the president, his aide-de-camp and the first lady.
Since the president’s admission in the hospital in November last year, several top people in government have made unsuccessful efforts to see the him.
On the list was a delegation of the Governors’ Forum led by its Chairman, Dr. Bukola Saraki and comprising Gabriel Suswan of Benue State; Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, who is also an in-law to the president and the president’s Economic Adviser, Dr. Tanimu Yakubu. They traveled to Jeddah on November 29 last year, but were not allowed to see the president.
Again, on December 26, 2009, the president’s Principal Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie, also traveled to Saudi Arabia but was not allowed to see his boss.
A delegation of the House of Representatives, led by Shehu Agaie (Niger State) and comprising Ali Ndume (Borno), Patrick Ikhariale (Edo State), Moruf Fatai (Lagos State) and Jibril Adamu (Kaduna State) also went to Saudi Arabia on February 9 but after waiting for five days without seeing Yar’Adua, they returned to Nigeria.
And just last week, a delegation of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, led by the party’s National Chairman, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, also traveled to Jeddah but was reportedly barred from seeing the president.
Sunnews
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