**A Nigerian court has dismissed a call for an interim leader to be appointed while President Umaru Yar’Adua is in hospital in Saudi Arabia.**The federal high court said there was no constitution requirement for him to formally write to parliament, informing them he is on “medical vacation”.
This would automatically lead to his deputy becoming acting president.
President Yar’Adua has been away for two months, raising fears of a power vacuum and calls for him to step down.
The president flew to Saudi Arabia in late November for medical treatment and has not been seen in public since.
In his only broadcast interview since he left the country, he told the BBC’s Hausa service on 12 January that he would return to resume his duties as soon as his doctors would allow.
As well as the flurry of court cases brought by his opponents, crowds of demonstrators have sporadically taken to the streets in Abuja and Lagos demanding power be handed to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan.
Correspondents say one reason for Mr Yar’Adua’s reluctance to allow Mr Jonathan to act on his behalf is the ruling People’s Democratic Party’s tradition of alternating power between north and south.
Mr Yar’Adua is a northerner, while the vice-president is from the south. So if Mr Jonathan took over, that would shorten the north’s stay in power.
The president is suffering from an inflammation of the lining around the heart and has long suffered from kidney problems.