The Action Congress (AC) has challenged the presidency to tell Nigerians where President Umaru Musa Yar'adua spent his recent two-week leave.

AC threw the challenge yesterday in Abuja in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The party said this is necessary because President Yar'adua did not show up in at least two of the three places where he was scheduled to spend the vacation.

The party recalled that the Presidency had without prompting, informed the whole world that the President would not travel abroad during his vacation, but would instead use the time off to rest at Obudu in Cross River state, Dodan Barracks in Lagos and the President's home town, Katsina.

"There has been no report of the President being sighted at Obudu or Dodan Barracks during the vacation. So, where was the President during this time off?"

AC said the issue of whether the President travelled to those places mentioned or not touches on credibility, which is a key issue in governance.

"And for a credibility-challenged administration, this is a serious matter. If Nigerians cannot take the President by his words, then a key link between the government and the people would have been severed, with serious consequences.

"Therefore, we ask the Presidency to tell Nigerians today where the President spent his vacation, and the titles of the books he read during the vacation. If the Presidency fails, it will have no moral justification to challenge those who continue to peddle rumours about the President's health and other issues.

"In other words, if a newspaper or an online news agency comes up with a report tomorrow that the President indeed sneaked out of the country to attend to his health during the vacation, why should people not believe the report?" AC queried.

The party said the argument that the death of Governor Mamman Ali of Yobe messed up the President's vacation schedule is unconvincing, since the President, with a fleet of aircraft at his beck and call, could have shuttled between his vacation spots and Yobe.

"Nigerians are not convinced by the attempt to hang the failure of the President to observe his vacation schedule on the death of Governor Ali. After all, the President did not relocate to Yobe all through his vacation," it said.

AC reiterated its earlier call on the Presidency to take information management very seriously, to come clean on issues surrounding the Presidency, especially his health and movements, and to stop toying with the intelligence of Nigerians.

"When he signed on to the Presidency of this country, President Yar'adua signed off his privacy, at least while his tenure lasts. Every move he makes will attract interest and questions from the public. Failure to understand this will affect the credibility of the President, and by extension his ability to effectively lead the country to a higher pedestal," AC added.