AMIDST the controversies trailing the dramatic return of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came reports that the government of the Islamic kingdom was responsible for his untimely return.
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Nigerian Tribune was informed by a very competent security source that the government of the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) embarked on a subtle 'blackmail diplomacy' against Saudi Arabia, a development which, according to the source, almost put the Islamic Kingdom in the 'dock'.
The source also gave an insight into how the air ambulance, which brought in the ailing president, was acquired. A frontline construction giant and a former governor from one of the South-South states were said to have brokered the deal that provided the air ambulance.
The multimillion dollar air ambulance was provided by a medical firm in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, after the said construction giant contacted some highly-placed officials of its home government to intervene on its behalf.
According to him, the intelligence community in the country was in the know of the planned return of the sick president, but that the information was not fully shared with the acting president, Goodkuck Jonathan, until very late.
"People still do not understand the undercurrents of this dramatic return. Left for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it would not have allowed the president to leave its soil without fully recovering from his ailment, but then, here is a situation that has put it as a collaborator in the whole saga.
"It got to an extent that the US government and the European Union had to engage in a subtle blackmail diplomacy with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia that it had not done too well as regards the secrecy surrounding the health of the Nigerian president since he arrived in the Kingdom for treatment.
"Of course, we know that if the government of Saudi wanted to be off the dock, it had a duty to correctly advise those very close to the president to quickly take him home rather than attracting unnecessary international attention to the respected kingdom known for its close ties with the United States.
"It was a very simple thing they did: allow the president stop subject to see him or take him to your country and maintain the secrecy of his sickness because the situation was already drawing Saudi Arabia to the international arena as part of Nigeria's political impasse until Jonathan was made the acting president two weeks ago.
The source said this was not the first time the Saudi authorities had tried to make close allies of the president see the need to allow people to see him.
"The first time they attempted to bring the ailing president into Nigeria, the man collapsed and they had to go back to the drawing board; but this time round, the construction giant and the former governor played key roles in approaching a Los Angeles-based medical firm for the air ambulance," the source said.
It will be recalled that Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, had, last week, threatened to drag the government of Saudi Arabia before international adjucation bodies for its alleged role in the Yar'Adua health saga..
