21 September 2009

Any moment from now, President Umaru Yar'Adua shall be travelling to Saudi Arabia again. He recently returned from the country where he had gone for medical check-up and allegedly performed Umrah, the lesser Hajj.

This is coming on the heel of the revelation that the president will not be attending this year's United Nations General Assembly starting tomorrow and has also cancelled scheduled meetings with the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and US President Barack Obama.

He will now be represented at the UN by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, who will only speak after presidents and heads of government have addressed the General Assembly.

The purpose of the current trip to Saudi Arabia is still unknown as there has not been any official statement. A government source close to the president said it could be a state visit, adding, "But it is curious that a state visit will be so shrouded in secrecy. And besides, it doesn't make diplomatic sense to cancel one top state function at the UN at the last minute and replace it with another."

The last time Yar'Adua travelled to Saudi Arabia, it was a well-publicised event as it should be for a sitting president.

There are, however, strong indications that Maduekwe will not be allowed to take part in tomorrow's meeting between President Obama and heads of state from Africa.

A reliable source within the US Department of State told Leadership correspondent in New York that the meeting had been scheduled for only the African presidents, adding that the hierarchy within the system would not allow the minister to attend such crucial meeting.

However, a diplomat the Nigeria Mission to the UN told Leadership yesterday that Maduekwe would attend the meeting with Obama.

He disclosed that as at Friday, the Nigerian Mission was yet to receive confirmation of Maduekwe's attendance from the US Department of State in Washington.

"When we got the form on Friday, September 18, 2009, we filled the names of the Minister and his wife, Mrs Ucha Maduekwe, as the ones representing President Yar'Adua and his wife at the meeting, and that serves as a confirmation that they both will be allowed to meet with President Obama alongside other African heads of state.

"We also returned the confirmation forms back to the United States Mission on that same Friday, though. We are yet to get a new confirmation from the Department of State through the US Mission to the United Nations."

The Nigerian diplomat, who pleaded anonymity, revealed that the United States Permanent Representative and President of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Susan Rice, had confirmed, in a meeting at the end of last week, that Nigeria's foreign affairs minister would be allowed at the meeting.

"She told us that since President Yar'Adua is not available for the meeting, then the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe, who is the head of Nigerian delegation, automatically stands in for the president and he will attend the meeting with President Obama," the diplomat hinted.

A source at US Department of State said the government was not happy over the common attitude of Nigerian leaders, who turn down this kind of invitation at the last minute without any tangible reason.

"We are still in shock that President Yar'Adua, who has a vital role to play, will not attend the meeting. Investigation is in progress to know the reason behind his 'unjust' action," he hinted.

The source, a senior official in the Department of State, further revealed that Yar'Adua's absence from the African heads of state's meeting with Obama could jeopardise Nigeria's election for a seat on the UN Security Council.

It was gathered that Nigeria has commenced an impressive campaign to clinch a non-permanent slot on the UN Security Council between 2010 and 2011.

A source close to the Nigeria Mission to the UN told Leadership that President Yar'Adua had been expected to discuss Ambassador Joy Ogwu's chance of clinching the seat in an election slated for October 15 with other African heads of state as it appears that Nigeria still needs almost 128 votes to get the seat in spite of the country's endorsement by other African countries.

In a related development yesterday, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, refuted media reports that his office was blocking the request of the London Metropolitan Police to send witnesses to London in the money laundering case involving the president's Principal Private Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP yesterday from London, Aondoakaa, who was upset that such an act should even be attributed to him, said he had not seen the request from the London Metropolitan Police, but said he would act on it with despatch whenever he saw it.

LEADERSHIP checks showed that the request might still have been with the EFCC and has indeed not got to the AGF's desk.

By Emmanuel Iffer and Mojeed Jamiu in Lagos and Abiodun Oluwarotimi in New York

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