20100108

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is "sound and fit" in hospital in Saudi Arabia, but it is unclear when he will be able to return home, Nigeria's ambassador said on Friday.

The president has been absent from Nigeria for more than a month receiving treatment for a heart condition in Saudi and there have been few updates on his health.

"He is recuperating in a royal suite attached to the hospital for VIPs. He is sound and fit, he sits, eats and walks very well. He is recuperating to have enough rest before he goes back to the office," Abdullah Aminchi, Nigeria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Reuters.

Asked when the president might return to Nigeria, Aminchi said: "It is the doctors who will say when."

The government is facing pressure from senior lawyers, political analysts and opposition party officials to provide concrete evidence that Yar'Adua is fit enough to govern Africa's most populous country.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has been presiding over cabinet meetings but executive powers have not officially been transferred to him, leading the Nigerian Bar Association and a prominent human rights lawyer to challenge the legality of decisions made in Yar'Adua's absence.

A federal court in Nigeria's capital Abuja is scheduled on Thursday to hear three separate lawsuits against the government which accuse the president of breaching the constitution by staying in power after weeks in hospital.

The lower house of parliament is expected to address Yar'Adua's prolonged absence on Tuesday, a senior lawmaker said.