Nigeria's president returns home

ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Ailing Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has returned to Abuja but he and his advisers remain silent about his three-month absence.

A plane ferrying Yar'Adua, who left the country Nov. 23 for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, touched down at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja Tuesday, the Daily Independent in Lagos reported.

Yar'Adua's departure and the lack of information about his health threw the already turbulent oil-producing African country into more confusion. Among other things, he left behind a deteriorating condition in the Niger Delta between militants and the military and a worsening budget crisis. The government also was confronted with the Christmas Day attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner by a Nigerian man and Nigeria being listed among the "countries of interest" by the United States in the investigation.

Several officials and organizations went to court to force the revelation of Yar'Adua's medical condition. In his absence, Goodluck Jonathan has been acting president.