The paper said the pressure on the VP to resign, to pave the way for Senate President David Mark to assume office for three months - during which fresh elections will be organised - was aimed at preserving the zoning arr angement under which power is expected to rotate between the North and the South at the end of the two presidential terms.
It claimed the VP was specifically being pressured to sign an undated resignation letter.
Under the Nigerian Constitution, the VP automatically assumes office if the President is unable to complete his tenure.
President Yar'Adua is from the north, while his deputy is a southerner. The Senate President, the nation's number three leader, is also a northerner.
''They (those pressuring the VP to resign) are saying that it is the only way to preserve the peace and unity of the country. The North would not accept a Southern President so soon after former President Olusegun Obasanjo and that the powerful elements in the region believe that the former President set up the North. They believe that Obasanjo knew that Yarâ~Adua was too ill to com plete his term, so he foisted him on the region so that power would return to the South,' Punch reported
The paper quoted 'a reliable source who is close to the Vice President and who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity' as saying Jonathan was fine and he was not under any pressure.
''Another highly placed politician within the Vice Presidentâ~s circle who was contacted to confirm the report declined, but only after he had said that it was '75 per cent true and 25 per cent a rumour,'' Punch reported.
President Yar'Adua is suffering from acute pericardities (an inflammation of the outer lining of the heart), and his is currently in Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated for the disease, believed to be a fallout of the kidney disease he is believed to be suffering from.
During the week, rumours of the President's alleged death spread quickly across the country, but was later denied by the government.
Despite having to travel out for medical treatment, President Yar'Adua did not hand over power to his deputy, further reinforcing the newspaper's story.
When PANA contacted a source in the VP's office Saturday, he said: ''I have not even read the (newspaper) report, so I cannot comment on it.''
Lagos - Pana 28/11/2009
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