Nigerian House to Take Up President's Absence

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- A leading member of the Nigerian House of Representatives says it will take up the long absence of the country's ill president.

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

Ita Enang, chairman of the House's rules and business committees, told reporters Friday that legislators would discuss the president's long convalescence at a Saudi Arabian hospital.

President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has suffered from kidney problems, left Nigeria on Nov. 23. His physician later released a statement saying Yar'Adua suffered from acute pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.

Yar'Adua did not formally appoint Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to serve in his absence, leading to fears of a constitutional crisis in the West African nation

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