Lagos — Forty-five days ago, President Umaru Yar'Adua left Nigeria for emergency medical trip to Saudi Arabia and no image of him has been seen since. What the Presidency told Nigerians was a routine medical check has since become an unresolved puzzle. For one, the President did not handover to his deputy to act on his behalf, and no one could perform the constitutional duties that only the President could perform, a situation that has thrown Nigeria into a precarious political hiatus. More than once, the Nigerian rumour mill was awash with news of the President's death, but each time the Presidency refuted this. At a point the President's personal physician was compelled to announce what he claimed was his medical condition - that, in plain terms, he had problems with the outer covering of his heart. It was couched in a language that made the condition seem less severe than it really was, and the promise then was that in a matter of days he would be back to the country hale and hearty. This has not yet happen. The turning point in the drama was when the 2010 Appropriation Bill had to be sent to Saudi Arabia for the President's assent. This was when opposition groups and other concerned Nigerians began to ask questions. Amid the arguments and counter arguments that the President could sign the annual appropriation bill from anywhere in the world, there emerged a strong suspicion that since no evidence was provided showing that the bill was actually signed by the President, that it was possible someone else did. The overwhelming demand from vocal groups in the country is that the Federal Government provides convincing evidence of the President's current condition. The Federal Government insists on waving off the demand, but it is obvious that in the days ahead the call would grow stiffer. Indeed, the heart of the matter is that Nigerians are finding it difficult to believe that the Federal Government has told the whole truth about the President's health. In small groups, in different corners of the country, people are asking if Yar'Adua is still alive.

The Action Congress (AC) at the weekend demanded a concrete evidence to show that the health condition of the President was, indeed, improving as being claimed by some of his aides, saying the current state of suspended animation on the issue was detrimental to national well-being.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said such evidence could be in form of a dated video recording of the President, sitting or standing, in his hospital room in Saudi Arabia.

It said the President - the father of the nation - could also use the opportunity to assure Nigerians that he was truly recovering from his illness, and that he was actually capable of signing the 2009 Supplementary Budget that he was said to have signed.

The party cited the example of Cuba in the last days of Fidel Castro, noting that video evidence was tendered to prove that he was recovering from the illness that eventually ended his long presidency.

"It is necessary for President Yar'Adua, if indeed he is recovering as Nigerians have been praying he does, to move fast to reassure his compatriots that the rumours surrounding his ill health are unfounded," Mohammed said, adding that "daily, we are bombarded with scary rumours of the continued deterioration of the President's health in Saudi Arabia, even as his aides assure us that he is indeed recovering."

Parts of the statement read: "Since the President left these shores over 40 days ago (as at Sunday), we do not know who has really seen him or who has not. Information on the state of health of the President should not be left in the hands of unscrupulous spin doctors, the Aondoakaas and the PDPs of this world, who have been muddling the waters just to serve their own selfish purposes."

The AC advised that while the President was recuperating - if indeed he was and there was evidence to show that - he should immediately act to show that his administration's rule of law mantra was not a fluke by legally transferring power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan - in line with Constitutional stipulation.

It also admonished the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to live up to its Constitutional responsibilities and put national interest above parochial considerations by kick-starting the process of determining the suitability of the President to continue in office on the basis of his health.

"We hope the President and his advisers will stop taking Nigerians for granted, and treating the presidency as a personal fiefdom. While it may indeed be true that Nigerians are patient, long suffering and very understanding, that should not be taken to mean that they are foolish. We do not know for how long a cabal can continue to fool a whole people," AC warned.

Similarly, leading politicians and activists in the country are already holding consultations on how to best intervene in the constitutional crisis created by the continued absence of the President from the seat of power, with nobody in particular acting for him.

The National Democratic Movement (NDM) at its last plenary in Abuja had advised leadership of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and the Federal Government to respect provisions of the constitution on the matter to avoid a situation where the country would be thrown into a full blown political crisis.

Again, a group of hundred lawyers at a confab last week also issued an ultimatum to the effect that Yar'adua must return to his stable by January 31 or his deputy, Vice President Goodluck, be allowed to act for him to avoid their wrath.

Some leaders of the Mega Movement have also said these demands coupled with the fact that the political class may not want to lose out to another unpredictable military gangsters, who may drift the nation back to draconian rule, have prompted the leading members of the mega summit movement to begin consultations on what should be the intervention of the political class in forestalling a possible breakdown of the political process in the country.

Commenting on the issue on Monday in Abuja, the Secretary of the Mega Summit Movement, Olawale Okunniyi, said the intervention of the political class in the constitutional crisis created by Yar'Adua's health is inevitable considering the negative scenario already steering the nation in the face.

He said the leader of the Mega Summit Movement, MSM, Anthony Enahoro is already being briefed about the situation and he may again be advised to review the ongoing process and summon a special all politicians summit to decide the intervention of the political class in this matter.

According to Okunniyi: "The scenario suddenly created by the president' health poses some grave consequences to national unity and stability, we need to urgently halt and control the situation in order not to find the nation again in the hands of opportunistic power hijackers. So the political class needs to intervene now to stem impending political disaster."

The stage is now set for a popular mass movement to demystify the mystery which has pervaded the circumstances of the President's health, going by development in the country. What is not yet quite certain is what form the people's agitation would take.