Pages

Friday, November 27, 2009

Nigeria President Umaru Yar'Adua 'has heart problem'

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has a heart condition, his spokesman has said, after he flew to Saudi Arabia on Monday for medical treatment. Mr Yar'Adua has acute pericarditis, or inflammation of the lining around the heart.

The president, 58, was responding well to treatment. Officials earlier denied rumours that the president was seriously ill. Mr Yar'Adua has had a chronic kidney condition for at least 10 years.
He has been unable to perform a number of official duties because of recurring health problems.

Officials had earlier been quoted as saying the president intended to make the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this week.





Analysts say his continued ill-health poses a problem for Nigeria's constitution.
If he were to step down or die, he would be replaced by Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the country's southern Niger Delta region. But according to the ruling People's Democratic Party's own formula for sharing power among the country's regions, the president must be a northerner.

Yar' Adua Profile
  • Born in 1951 in the northern Muslim state of Katsina
  • Self-confessed Marxist as an undergraduate
  • Became a chemistry teacher after university
  • Married twice, has nine children
  • Governor of Katsina from 1999 to 2007
  • During his governorship Katsina adopted Sharia law
  • Nickname since becoming president in 2007 - "Baba-go-slow"
  • High point of his presidency so far - the amnesty for oil militants
  • Has suffered from a chronic kidney condition for at least 10 years
BBC

0 comments: