Call for truth on Nigeria leader

Umaru Yar'Adua has suffered from a chronic illness for at least a decade

A Nigerian opposition party has called for the government to be open about any problems with President Umaru Yar'Adua's health.

The president has been in Saudi Arabia for two weeks receiving medical treatment for a long-standing illness.

When he left Nigeria, the president said he was going to Saudi Arabia to visit the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Rumours about his worsening state of health spread after it was confirmed he was in a hospital in Jeddah.

'Autopilot'

Spokesman for the Action Congress (AC) Lai Mohammed said the country was now on "autopilot".

"The president needs to realise he can no longer take his health as a purely personal matter," he said.

"In the last 10 days we have had no one in control, the ministers didn't know he had gone for medical checks."

"We're on autopilot. I don't know who is running the country."

Information Minister John Odey told journalists on Wednesday he did not know when the president would be back.

"The president is free to take this opportunity to take medical checks, but he is hale and hearty, I can assure you of that," he said.

He said he would inform journalists when he knew what the president's plans were.

'Are you dead?'

President Yar'Adua has suffered from a condition affecting his kidneys for at least 10 years.

He has twice been flown to Germany for emergency medical treatment in the last 18 months.

The first time was during his hectic campaign schedule before being elected.

The Nigerian media printed stories he had died, prompting former President Olusegun Obasanjo to call him on a speaker phone during a rally to ask "Umaru, are you dead?"

Mr Yar'Adua has refused to say exactly what condition he suffers from, and has repeatedly said in interviews that his life is "in the hands of God."