Nigerian president Yar'Adua home
Nigeria's ill President Umaru Yar'Adua has returned home to his West African nation after three months abroad receiving treatment for a heart condition at a Saudi Arabian hospital, an ambassador said.
Abdullah Aminchi, Nigeria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said that Yar'Adua returned home on an early morning flight that arrived in Abuja, the country's capital.
Television footage showed an ambulance leaving the airport's presidential wing, but offered no images of the sick president, who hasn't been seen publicly since leaving Nigeria in November.
Aminchi said Yar'Adua would need time to recuperate before assuming presidential powers.
"He's already walking. He eats. He can move about," the ambassador said. "I think he just needs some time to rest and he can go back to his work as president of Nigeria."
Yar'Adua was admitted into the hospital the day after he left Nigeria. As questions mounted, his physician released a statement saying Yar'Adua suffered from acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.
The Nigerian government ground to a halt in Yar'Adua absence as oil contracts went unsigned and people in the streets worried about the future of Africa's most populous nation.
After more than two months of a standstill, the National Assembly voted to empower Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to take over as acting president.
However, the parliament's action specified that Jonathan had to cede power to Yar'Adua upon his return if he's medically capable of leading the nation of 150 million.
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