Abuja — Two months after he returned from a medical trip to Saudi Arabia, President Umaru Yar'adua departed the country again yesterday for Saudi Arabia, apparently in a hurry.

The State House announced the President's impending departure for the medical trip late in the afternoon yesterday, but sources said Yar'adua was already airborne when the announcement was made.

The statement signed by the President's Special Adviser on Media and Communications Olusegun Adeniyi said, "President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua will leave Abuja today for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

While there, the President will call on his personal physicians in Jeddah for follow-up medical checks."

Yesterday's medical trip differed from Yar'adua's last medical trip in August, when the State House announced several days in advance that he was going for a medical check up in Saudi Arabia and would also seize the opportunity to perform the lesser hajj, or umrah. This time, there was scant notice of the president's departure. Even though Yar'adua is going to Saudi Arabia this week, at the height of the annual hajj season, the statement did not say that he would perform the hajj, which is rigorous. While last August's trip had a time frame of one week, yesterday's terse announcement did not say how many days Yar'adua will spend in the Saudi kingdom. Similarly, no footage of the president's departure was shown on television last night, unlike last August, when both his departure and his return were shown on television.

This is Alhaji Umaru Yar'adua's fifth foreign medical trip since early 2007, when he was PDP's presidential candidate. In the midst of that year's campaign, he was rushed to Germany for medical attention after he developed health problems. Six months into his presidency, Yar'adua also seized the opportunity of attending the G-8 Summit in Germany to again undergo medical attention.

His third foreign medical since 2007 occurred last year, when Yar'adua aborted a planned trip to Brazil and went to Saudi Arabia, supposedly to perform the umrah. He was away for two weeks and the government fell into some confusion in explaining his whereabouts, since there were no pictures of him performing the umrah. His fourth trip, again to Saudi Arabia, took place last August. It was announced in advance that he would attend the commissioning of a new university in the Saudi Arabia, and the president was away for a week. However, the timing of that trip also caused a furore at home, because the State House had announced earlier that month that Yar'adua would be attending the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. Due to that Saudi trip, the president also failed to attend a summit meeting that US President Barack Obama hosted in New York with African leaders. He also missed a UN Climate Change Summit that took place at the same time.

Even though the government has never disclosed the nature of the president's ailment, Reuters reported yesterday that he is in Saudi Arabia to treat "a chronic kidney problem." Despite his frail appearance in recent months, Yar'adua had a full week of work last week, including receiving letters of credence of several ambassadors on Tuesday, chairing the federal executive Council meeting on Wednesday, and receiving Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore on Thursday. He was also at the Juma'at prayers at the Abuja National Mosque last Friday.

The president's sudden departure for Saudi Arabia also brought to a screeching end the raging battle in the National Assembly since last week over the venue for the president's 2010 budget presentation to a joint sitting of its two chambers. Yar'adua was due to address the two chambers last Thursday, but a statement by Senate President David Mark two days earlier, changing the venue of the joint sitting from the House of Representatives to the Senate chamber, ignited a furore that ultimately aborted the presentation.

Mr. Adeniyi's statement yesterday said the president "has forwarded copies of the 2010 National Appropriation Bill to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives." Sources at the Assembly later said that Yar'adua's Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Abba Aji, will today lay the budget documents on the table in both chambers of the Assembly.