Frisky Larr (M. A.)
Radio/Television Journalist/Communication Scientist,
Govt. accredited Translator/Interpreter of the English language
Judicially sworn interpreter of English (Regional Court of Bochum)
Germany
Send your email to:
FriskyLarr@aol.com
Latest information from reliable sources failing to provide
further details is now however suggesting that the President has
currently been placed on life support on his hospital bed. A
condition which normally indicates that a vital organ is failing
to function perfectly without external machine support!
Yar’Adua’s Condition worsens,
Succession battle heats up! by Frisky Larr
Information coming out of sources close to Aso Rock is painting a
dismal and grim picture of President Yar’Adua’s condition on his
Saudi hospital bed. This could not have come at a worse time for
loyalists and members of the President’s kitchen cabinet jostling
for a quick return of the President to the seat of power at all
cost. The need for a quick return is basically informed by the
urge to calm a highly agitated polity amid a state of political
uncertainty that is fast spiraling out of control. Early optimism
fed by Yar'Adua's positive response to administered treatment
suffered a huge setback yesterday as cautious medical voices
echoed a backslide in the President’s condition.
Latest information from reliable sources failing to provide
further details is now however suggesting that the President has
currently been placed on life support on his hospital bed. A
condition which normally indicates that a vital organ is failing
to function perfectly without external machine support!
As can be expected, the consequence is dire and is intensely
fueling the rumor mill and political actions behind the iron
curtain. Prominently pitched against each other at the moment,
seems to be the camp of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and
loyalists of the ailing President. The voluble echoes trickling
out of the invisible and clandestine northern group clamoring for
the completion of the northern term on the zonal arrangement had
initially favored a scenario seeking Vice President Jonathan’s
resignation in the event of an irreversible Yar’Adua’s
incapacitation. Stern and unmistakable signals emerging from
southern reaction have however indicated dire consequences in the
event that the Vice President is unconstitutionally coerced into
premature resignation.
There has obviously been a clear backtracking from this position
which seems to have made way for Jonathan’s completion of the few
months left of Yar’Adua’s term. The key to succession is now
focused on who would eventually emerge as Goodluck Jonathan’s
deputy. While the Obasanjo camp is reported to be strongly
canvassing for Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, the camp of
Yar’Adua’s loyalist is obviously throwing its political weight
behind Governor Isa Juguda of Bauchi State. The calculation being
the eventual discontinuation of Jonathan in 2011, thus paving way
for the eventual deputy to assume the rudder of governance!
It will be recalled that Sule Lamido is viewed as a close
confidant of Olusegun Obasanjo who served in the latter’s cabinet
as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The former President is also
widely believed to have facilitated Lamido’s ascension to the
office of Governor. Isa Yuguda on the other hand, is the Governor
at the center of a recent marriage event, in which one of
President Yar’Adua’s daughters was betrothed to him as the latest
in a polygamous household. Whichever way it goes, each of these
Governors is regarded as a staunch loyalist of the camp they
represent.
Grumbles reaching out of the Delta region are however sounding
another unmistakable warning that the northern cabals should
desist from playing God. Their argument is founded on the
reasoning that an internal PDP zonal arrangement should not be
allowed to supersede the constitutional sovereignty of the land
which clearly regulates the issue of succession in the event of a
President’s death. It is therefore resounding the warning that
withdrawal on the part of Jonathan from the presidential throne in
2011 in the aftermath of invisible northern pressure to make way
for succession by any eventual deputy will not be tolerated.
Stakeholders are now eyeing an Obasanjo-Atiku model, in which
Atiku Abubakar largely called the shots in Obsanjo’s first term.
Meantime, the ailing President is said to be lying under the
watchful eyes of strong affiliates who may stand to lose a huge
stake upon the demise of the resilient President. Prominent among
such affiliates is said to be ex-Governor James Ibori who features
among the very few entourage of the President’s men hanging out
with him from the very first day.