Members of the House of Representatives who travelled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday on a goodwill visit to President Umaru Yar’Adua were denied access to the President.
A reliable source close to the team told one of our correspondents on Thursday that the team was billed to return to Nigeria today.
Our correspondents learnt of this just as the leadership of the House paid a solidarity visit to Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
Our source, who is very close to the House delegation, said that after spending four days in Saudi Arabia, the members were only able to see the President’s wife, Turai.

“They have tried to see him (Yar’Adua) but did not succeed, after waiting for four days. They will be coming back tomorrow (Friday) and will make their report public on Tuesday,” the source said.

Our corespondents authoritatively gathered that when it was apparent that they would not be able to see the ailing President, the team members resolved to hold a special prayer for his quick recovery.
It, was, however not clear where the special prayer took place.

THE PUNCH had exclusively reported on Monday, January 11 that the President’s family signed a “non-disclosure order form” which forbids the King Faisal Hospital in Jeddah from releasing information on the President’s illness to the public or allowing visitors other than his wife, Turai; his Chief Security Officer, Muhammed Tilde; and his Aide-de-Camp, Mustapha Onoedieva to see the President, who is believed to be on a life-support machine.
There had been reports of how the Saudi Arabian authorities had mounted an unbeatable security around the President since his health worsened within the last two months he had been hospitalised.

The House had resolved to send the delegation as part of its fact-finding efforts on the state of health of the President.


http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20100212425090

Yaradua is not news anymore, we want news about our acting president.

So yaradua is now a property of the saudi government? WHAT A SHAME!

I think the next phase of protest should be in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy for Kidnapping our President.

mama-gee:

Yaradua is not news anymore, we want news about our acting president.

He is still news because Jonathan is yet acting President. If he does not want disturbance then please lets have his resignation letter. He can not go AWOL on his employers the Nigerian people.

If this story is true, then Nigeria needs to break off diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. In fact if Saudi wasn't militarily stronger than Nigeria, would have suggested that we even carry out an armed operation.
No foreign country should be able to hold our president hostage, it doesn't matter if his family consents; he is the president of Nigeria, not his family.

Water don deh pass garri for dis matter.

honestly I think people should begin to protest in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy to either release our President if he is alive or tell us if he is dead. They have no right to keep our President Hostage.

No section of the constitution provides for an Acting President for a dead man. If he is alive let us know, if he is dead or incapacitated let us do the right thing and give him a befiting burial.

Femi Falana and co, our next protest should be to Saudi Arabian embassy with a petition to UK and US embassies to warn the saudis to release our President.

Oyb, my opinion is that yaradua is incapacitated but some powerful interests in connivance with SAUDI GOVT., PDP, SOME NORTHERN POLITICIANS decided to keep him incommunicado pending d next election so as to shop for a replacement.

Timehin:

Oyb, my opinion is that yaradua is incapacitated but some powerful interests in connivance with SAUDI GOVT., PDP, SOME NORTHERN POLITICIANS decided to keep him incommunicado pending d next election so as to shop for a replacement.

Then we should swear in Jonathan as full commander-in-chief. That is what the constitution says you do when the PRESIDENT is incapacitated

18months lame duck session is too long and No Nation should tolerate it.

The FOOL is dead. . .stone dead! How may did he kill again in Niger Delta?

@ Beaf & @OYB_MEND

There is absolutely no need to pressure the Saudis into doing anything. If you were an employer, and one of your employees went AWOL for 30 days, and despite every good faith attempt to get his family to allow you contact with him the employee rebuffed you, what would you do?

You would fire the employee, of course!

Nigeria, as a country, is so terminally dysfunctional that this travesty was allowed to drag on for so long. All the Nigerian parliament had to do was dismiss YarAdua for being AWOL for 70+ days. It is within their constitutional right to do so. No sane employer would tolerate this situation for this long.

Yaradua is gone for good. Lets focus on our acting president.

9ijaprince:

Yaradua is gone for good. Lets focus on our acting president.

The two bits in bold can not co-exist in a sane country. If Yar'adua is gone for good why is Jonathan still acting President?

People need to stop getting scared of heating up the polity. We have pampered this country for too long and only succeeded in sustaining litany of illegalities. Let us stand up for what is right for once. If the system gets heated up it will still cool down when the right thing has been done.

We need either section 144 or 143 in other to swear in Jonathan as full commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He still lives in Agoda House instead of the full Presidential House. If Yar'adua is gone for good why is this the case. If he is very much around why can't we know the true state of his health?

My brothers and sisters make una no worry too much.

Jonathan can now route a diplomatic request through the office of King Abdollah of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have a duty to co-operate and guarantee security clearance for a diplomatic mission sent by Jonathan to see our ailing President. It is a compassionate as well as a National Security issue and I think King Abdollah will require the Yar'adua's to co-operate or leave the shores of Saudi Arabia in other to avoid any diplomatic impasse between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

If the Saudis are unco-operative Jonathan can lobby US to pressure King Abdollah and he will eventually comply.

mikeansy:

.
Jonathan can now route a diplomatic request through the office of King Abdollah of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have a duty to co-operate and guarantee security clearance for a diplomatic mission sent by Jonathan to see our ailing President. It is a compassionate as well as a National Security issue and I think King Abdollah will require the Yar'adua's to co-operate or leave the shores of Saudi Arabia in other to avoid any diplomatic impasse between Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
.

Good thinking, mikeansy.

Na wa o, is it by force. Someone doesn't want to see you/ be seen; it's called privacy and that's why the Saudi's respect that. Either that or they all don't want you to discover the real condition of the ailing president.


In short this is turning into an inter-continental joke.

maedan:




Na wa o, is it by force. Someone doesn't want to see you/ be seen; it's called privacy and that's why the Saudi's respect that. Either that or they all don't want you to discover the real condition of the ailing president.


In short this is turning into an inter-continental joke.

The President has a right to privacy as a private citizen. That is a choice his handlers can obviously make if they have any respect for Umar Yar'adua. We should be mourning his unfortunate absence and expressing unwavered and unconditional sympathy for Umar Musa Yar'adua but his handlers and wife have refused to allow that be the case. If you use the dead or the incapacitated as an instrument of politics you destroy the sanctity of life and make them fair game. Go look at the home page of LEADERSHIP Newspaper, UMYA has become a ridicule and this should not be the case. So long as his family refuse to let him resign on health grounds or continue to keep him in office by concealing his health condition he will continue to be fair political game and legitimate object of ridicule.

If Turai had any love and respect for her husband rather than a power and money making spin she would have insulated her from all this nonsense ages ago. Nobody deserves what Yar'adua is going through now.