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Ill Nigeria leader 'to step back' | Ill Nigeria leader 'to step back' |
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Nigeria's ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua will write a letter handing power over to his vice-president, his adviser has told the BBC. | Nigeria's ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua will write a letter handing power over to his vice-president, his adviser has told the BBC. |
The letter, formally informing the Senate that Mr Yar'Adua is on "medical vacation", automatically means his deputy becomes acting president. | The letter, formally informing the Senate that Mr Yar'Adua is on "medical vacation", automatically means his deputy becomes acting president. |
The president's allies have previously resisted calls for him to step aside. | The president's allies have previously resisted calls for him to step aside. |
He has been in a hospital in Saudi Arabia since November, prompting fears of a power vacuum and street protests. | He has been in a hospital in Saudi Arabia since November, prompting fears of a power vacuum and street protests. |
Nigeria's powerful state governors have said they believe Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan should be acting president. | Nigeria's powerful state governors have said they believe Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan should be acting president. |
The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says Nigeria's political struggle over the president's fitness to rule may be nearing an endgame. | The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says Nigeria's political struggle over the president's fitness to rule may be nearing an endgame. |
The president's special adviser on legislative affairs, Abba Aji, did not say when Mr Yar'Adua would write the letter but he said there would be no "undue delay". | |
For weeks, Nigeria has been beset with rumours and hoaxes over whether the president is alive or dead, our correspondent says. | |
His failure to transfer powers to his deputy before he left created a power vacuum - in which fear and false reports flourished, she says. | |
Newspapers said the president was brain dead - or struck dumb. | |
There were apparently official statements claiming the president was discharged from hospital. They later turned out not to be true. | |
Political tensions have been high - government business has stalled and legislation been frozen and cracks have appeared in the uneasy peace in the oil-producing Niger Delta. |