Abuja — The controversy trailing the 72-day old absence of President Umaru Yar'Adua, flown to Saudi Arabia on medical emergency, rose a notch Monday, when the nation's media owners met in Lagos and handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the president to resign or cede power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, yesterday averted a rowdy session over reports that it had no plan to impeach President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

The media stakeholders - who convened at the Vanguard Press in Lagos and reviewed the nation's rule-of-law regime, constitutionality and democratic health - expressed shock at the scope of the drift of the ship of state, "unpatriotic politicization of the ill health of the president and dance towards darkness by our leaders."

According to the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the media owners counseled the president to take "the honourable path and spare the nation the on-going political confusion," recalling that he "swore to an oath of allegiance to obey the letters and the spirit of the 1999 Constitution without fear or favour and to also promote peace and accord in Nigeria.

The communiqué further stated: "Therefore, because President Umaru Yar'adua has been in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment for more than 70 days; leaving more than 150 million Nigerians rudderless, thereby unable to perform his duties as Head of State, Chief Executive of this Federation and commander-in-Chief of the armed Forces of Nigeria, and has not been seen in public since then, the stakeholders hereby demand that the president cede power to his deputy or resign within seven days.

"If he fails to take this obvious constitutional step to stabilise the polity and keep undemocratic forces away from the political scene, the National Assembly should commence impeachment proceedings against him for endangering the country."

Commending the courage of former heads of state and other distinguished elders of the nation who expressed their positions on the subsisting issue, the group also cautioned the president on the primacy and need to respect the Constitution.

The communiqué chided the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Kaasa Aondoakaa, SAN, for his successive, curious efforts "to secure rulership in absentia for president Yar'adua" despite the self admittance by the president in an interview with the BBC that he was "temporarily incapacitated" which had "prevented him from performing the duties of his office."

On the planned trip by the National Assembly to Saudi Arabia to ascertain the true state of the president's health, the media stakeholders stated that it was insulting to the nation for the lawmakers to waste "scarce public funds on a goodwill visit."

Media moguls who cut across the broadcast and print media who signed the communiqué included Sam Amuka (Vanguard), Chief Ajibola Ogunshola (The Punch), Prince Tony Momoh (Daily Independent), Sam Nda-Isaiah (Leadership), Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi (AIT), Yaya Abubakar Mni, Babafemi Ojudu (TheNews), Comfort Obi (The Source), Ben Egbuna (Niche Media Ltd) and Ugo Onuoha (Champion).

Others were Rufa'i Ibrahim (Peoples Daily), Olubunmi Inindapo (MITV/Star FM), Lade Bonuola (Nigerian Compass), Nosa Igiebor (Tell), Frank Aigbogun (Business Day), Osa Sonny Adun (DBN), Mideno Bayeigbon (Vanguard), Gbenga Omotosho (The Nation), Dr. A. Tom Adaba, Haj Alade Odunewu OFR, as well as Gbenga Adefaye, Vanguard newspapers and President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE).

Mark reassured his colleagues that the Senate had not foreclosed other constitutional options available in resolving the logjam occasioned by the continued absence of the president.

Most senators had argued that the only constitutional option left for them in resolving the issue was to impeach the ailing president.

Announcing the decision on the floor during the stormy plenary, Senator Mark, also said that the resolution which urged the president to transmit a letter-notifying the Senate of his medical vacation still remains and would not be reintroduced for further discussion. He claimed that the media only misquoted the reaction of the Senate Committee Chairman on Media and Publicity, Senator Ayogu Eze.

Mark also clarified that there was no time the Senate during the closed door session discussed issue of impeachment, but rather restricted itself on the issue of the need for the president to transmit a letter to the Senate in line with Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.

The decision was sequel to an Order of Privilege raised by Senator Uche Chukwumerije (PPA, Abia). Raising Order 15 of the Senate Rules, he said that the publications in several newspapers on Monday February 1, suggested that that the Senate had foreclosed other options available to it in resolving the raging question of the propriety or otherwise of the prolonged absence of the president from his duty post.

Chukwumerije said that the reaction of Senator Eze breached his privilege as a Senator, embarrassed him just as it diminished the Senate as a lawmaking body.

"That reaction by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, suggests that the motion gives no room for any further actions by the Senate. But in the stories published in the publications of yesterday which I referred to, the information, which is very new to me, was given that the Senate has foreclosed all options", Chukwumerije said.

"This publication implying that we have foreclosed all options exposed the Senate to embarrassment, because Senate never discussed any other options. And secondly, public view on the publication has exposed Senate to ridicule. I, as a member of the Senate feels embarrassed, feel diminished by the publication. I believe that the issue involved here is so fundamental that I will ask for a closed session for us to trash out the issue in order to avoid further damage to the image of the Senate and the psyche of most of our members".

The lawmaker in compliance to Order 14 and 18 of the Senate Rules which Senator Mark asked him to read and tendered three newspapers to buttress his submission.

However, the Senate president objected to the demand that the Senate do go into an executive session to discuss the matter.

"Since your suggestion was that we go into the executive session to discuss it, I will overrule that because there is no need for us to go into any executive session on this issue for several reasons, first of all our close session is not really closed session because at the end of the day everything is read verbatim", Mark stated.

"So let those who have the opportunity of leaking it not have the opportunity again. It will be discussed in the open here because we try to safe guard ourselves and make sure that we do have an opportunity to talk frankly, but at the end of the day members are even quoted on who say what and who did not say what leading to total misrepresentation of facts, most times.

"People, who leak this information, do it to achieve a certain goal for themselves and that is very unfair on the rest of us.

"Secondly on this particular issue, what I will suggest is that Senator Ayogu Eze distributes what he wrote and let us compare it with the report in the papers. And then we find out whether the papers have actually reported what he has written or they have decided to give the headlines the way they wanted to give it, because I also felt a bit embarrassed by the publication.

"We have never at any stage discussed impeachment one way or the other of either the Vice President or the president not to talk of impeaching two of them. The papers are having a field day. Ayogu Eze will distribute the copies of what he gave to the press."

But Senator Chukwumerijie apparently not satisfied said; "With due respect, I want to say that when we talk about content analysis of information management, we are talking not only about written text,... Most of the time the things quoted are things said off the cuff. And most of the time when you have something to say, they are even stronger than written statements. Therefore, I do not think that prepared statements will give us a comprehensive view of that ...., except we ask him to give us recorded tapes of what he said."

In reply the Senate President said; "Well, if that becomes the issue, then the matter should be referred to Ethics and Privileges Committee. We can't sit here and begin to try Ayogu Eze."

"Let me say that it is not the normal procedure of doing things because when I give the ruling, we don't begin to debate it. But I am allowing this so that people who are mischief makers, don't continue with the mischief that is going on currently in this country. A lot of people are now having a field day at our own expense."

In his contribution, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani (PDP, Enugu) said, "The issue of Senate spokesperson is local and may be specific to the Nigerian democratic experiment. What we are practising is constitutional democracy which is synonymous with what they have in America. I have not heard of Senate spokesperson in America. I believe the Senate speaks for itself. I admire the enthusiasm and the zeal that Senator Ayogu Eze is bringing on board. But I don't think that the Senate should speak through a spokesperson. The Senate should speak through its resolutions. The Senate should not be going front and back."

In his defence, Senator Eze told his colleagues that "without prejudices to whatever Senate would decide on this matter, I didn't address any journalist sitting around me. That press statement went out through my e-mail, so the question of inflections of responses to questions does not arise."

Ruling on the matter, Senator Mark accused the media saying: "The entire publication, massive and catchy headlines given to all it is just sheer mischief. The fact of the matter is that we didn't discuss the impeachment of the Mr. President and Mr. Vice president. They got a written paper from the Senate spokesman and decided to put their own headlines and do their analysis, there is very little we can do about it."

"Let me use this opportunity to clarify that the entire publication was just based on mischief, starting with the one that gave the headline as if the leadership wanted Mr. President and Mr. Vice President impeached because there were some ambitious men in the leadership, it was total nonsense and that is what started it all.

"So I think that this matter should rest at this point with all these explanations. I think there is no point refereeing it to the Ethics Committee at all.

"With this clarification, we stand where we stand. We have made our resolution and we stand by that resolution and there should be no further debate. We are not going to go back on the resolution and there should be no further debate on the resolution," Mark stated.