ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Vice President Goodluck Jonathan became Nigeria's acting president Tuesday by vote of the National Assembly.
The Senate voted to suspend ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua from office, Radio France Internationale reported. The BBC has said Yar'Adua is suffering from an inflammation of the lining around his heart and has kidney problems.
Critics suggested immediately the legislative action was unconstitutional, The New York Times reported. The 58-year-old president, who has been in office since May 2007, has been out of the country since late November getting medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
Jibrin Ibrahim, director of the Center for Democracy and Development, called the vote a "political farce."
"If it continues, the end of the road in this case is bureaucratic anarchy," Balarabe Musa, chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, said.
Musa told RFI Yar'Adua should be impeached for leaving the country without notifying the legislature.
Jonathan, 52, gave a broadcast speech to the nation.
"Today affords us time to reconnect with ourselves and overcome any suspicions, hurts and doubts, which had occurred," he said in a transcript printed in The Nigerian Compass. "In all these, there are no winners and no losers because, by the grace of God, we have once again succeeded in moving our country forward."
Since the president left the country, there have been court battles and Cabinet fights over making Jonathan acting president.
