THE late President Umaru Yar\u2019Adua did a kidney transplant in 2002 as governor of Katsina State, but avoided another one as president for fears causing unrest, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.<\/p>\n
The cables claimed former Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Sayyadi Abba Ruma donated his kidney for the transplant.<\/p>\n
The cables suggested Nigeria\u2019s top power brokers in the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) knew about Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s condition, but still propped him up to become the presidential candidate in 2007.<\/p>\n
Aides to the president stuffed his clothes to hide his weight loss and used makeup to hide his pallor, the cables claim, but his illness ultimately led to a long absence from that fuelled public discontent.Yar\u2019Adua died last May, propelling Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan into the presidency. Jonathan recently became the ruling party\u2019s presidential candidate for the coming April election.<\/p>\n
“What is clear is that the president\u2019s health is a matter of growing concern, particularly on the minds of the northern elite,” a diplomatic cable from February 2009 reads. “We have noted a considerable uptick in what appears to be behind-the-scenes machinations and back-room dealing.”<\/p>\n
WikiLeaks publicly released the cables late Saturday night. A spokesman at the United States (US) Embassy in Abuja, said officials would have no comment on anything released by the website.<\/p>\n
A diplomatic cable from June 2008 claimedYar\u2019Adua first began experiencing renal failure in 1999, shortly after he became governor. The cable said German company Julius Berger, one of the dominant road construction firms in Nigeria, set up a dialysis clinic in Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s home. The firm later flew German experts in and out of Nigeria to privately treat Yar\u2019Adua, the cables claimed.<\/p>\n
The discolorations long noticed on Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s face, fuelling rumours about his ill health, came from the steroids doctors gave him to help his body accept the transplant, according to the cables. Ruma denied the cable claim, calling WikiLeaks a “witch-hunting device” and “a strategy for blackmail.” “It never happened,” Ruma told The Associated Press last night. “It\u2019s not true. It\u2019s malicious. It\u2019s mischievous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE late President Umaru Yar\u2019Adua did a kidney transplant in 2002 as governor of Katsina State, but avoided another one as president for fears causing unrest, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. The cables claimed former Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Sayyadi Abba Ruma donated his kidney for the transplant. The cables suggested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n