Nigeria deputy leader 'in charge'

Abuja, 14 Jan-(ANA)-Nigerian Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan can perform all presidential duties while the country's ailing leader is away, a judge has ruled.

But he would need a formal transfer of power to become official head of state, according to the Federal Court ruling.

It is the first of four cases aiming to clarify who rules while President Umaru Yar'Adua is away. He has been in a Saudi Arabia hospital since November.

Ministers and the lawyer who brought the case said they were satisfied.

But some critics want to see Mr Jonathan become official head of state.

Correspondents say the issue is so sensitive because of the ruling party's system of alternating power between north and south.

While Mr Yar'Adua is a northerner, Mr Jonathan hails from the south.

Northern powerbrokers may be reluctant to see a southerner take over officially before the next scheduled presidential election in 2011. (ANA)

FA/ANA/14 January 2010----