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Confusion in Yar'Adua's camp *Turai, cabal members disagree over planned resignation, overseas medical trip

CONFUSION is said to be reigning in the camp of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua, following disagreements over the next step to take on the ailing leader.

Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that members of the cabal around the ailing leader have now abandoned the First Lady, Hajia Turai, in view of what was described as her intransigence in finding the way forward.

It was gathered that while some Northern leaders had recently joined the search for a practical solution to the Yar'Adua situation, as they were said to have reached out to the first lady and other members of the cabal, it was learnt that the first lady got many of the interested parties angry with her insistence that her husband should be allowed to remain in the villa..

A source said that the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, appeared to have consigned the Yar'Adua issue to history after his decision to approve fresh funds for treatment of the ailing president was turned down by Turai.

A source said that the first lady viewed the release of the funds with suspicion, as some members of her own inner cabinet were said to have expressed fears that removing Yar'Adua from the Villa could empower the National Assembly and the Executive Council of the Federation to declare him an invalid and permanently incapacitated.

While some members of the cabal were said to have agreed with Turai that allowing Yar'Adua to embark on another medical trip abroad could mean the end of his presidency, they, however, disagreed over his continued stay in the villa.

A source close to the administration informed that other top members of the cabal had now abandoned Turai, following her refusal to adhere to the suggestions by some northern leaders who had proposed a "soft landing" for the ailing president.

A source confirmed that some northern leaders had reached out to the acting president and other influential Nigerians and had come up with the solution that they believed would please all parties.

Their suggestion was to the effect that Yar'Adua should not be disgraced out of office but should be allowed to resign and leave the villa honourably, said a source at the weekend.

It was, however, gathered that Turai was afraid that things would no longer remain in her control if she moved her husband to Katsina.

It was learnt that Yar'Adua's most trusted friend, Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, was one of those displeased with Turai's decision and had subsequently decided to stay away for now.

Sources confirmed that the first lady had expressed the confidence that her husband could suddenly regained consciousness and that she remained hopeful that Jonathan would not move against him.

"She has seen that Jonathan is well disposed to her husband and is not orchestrating his removal and she wants to latch onto that and remain in the villa for as long as possible. She even believes that she could end the tenure in the villa with her husband, but interests in the North are already seeing this as harmful to the politics of the zone," a source stated on Sunday.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan took Nigerians by surprise with his last-minute nomination of President Yar'Adua's wife, Turai, for a ministerial position.

Mrs. Yar'Adua's subsequent confirmation by the Senate instantly took her into the history books, not only as the first ever Nigerian First Lady to simultaneously hold a cabinet-rank position, but also as the only Nigerian ever to be screened for a ministerial position in absentia.

The inclusion of the First Lady's name in the list of nominees took the Senators by surprise, becoming known only after the final batch of nominees had been screened. Moments after Mr. Segun Aganga, the last of the candidates scheduled for Wednesday, took his bow before the Chambers, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Mohammed Abba-Aji, was sighted making his way to the front of the chambers, where he spent minutes conferring with the Senate President.

While the conversation was going on, Mr. Abba-Aji handed over some documents to the Senate President, who broke into a smile when he browsed through them. When the Senate President finally addressed the Chambers, it was to make the surprise announcement - that Acting President Jonathan had, in a bid to increase the quota of women represented in the incoming cabinet, submitted the name of the First Lady for screening.

The Senate Chambers erupted in uproar, which took the Senate President several minutes to calm.

The Senate President then asked Senators to make an exception for the First Lady and screen her in absentia, taking into consideration the fact that her convalescing husband required her presence at his bedside.

There were a few voices of protest, but most of Senators agreed on a symbolic screening. The Senate President proceeded to announce Mrs. Yar'Adua, and then asked her to "bow and go in absentia." This was followed by loud cheering spearheaded by the female Senators present.

With Mrs. Yar'Adua's confirmation, the number of women in the incoming cabinet has risen to six, and the total number of screened nominees to thirty-nine.

The Yar'Adua family is also making history as the only family in recent times to have two nominees in a federal cabinet; as Mrs. Yar'Adua joins Murtala, her husband's nephew, who was screened on Tuesday.

It is being speculated that Mrs. Yar'Adua will be assigned the proposed ‘Power Ministry', which insider sources in the Presidency say should not be confused with the Ministry of Power.

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