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There was concern across the country on President Umaru Yar'Adua's health following the media blackout surrounding his latest medical trip to Saudi Arabia. From Sokoto, Kaduna, Enugu, Owerri, Calabar, Minna and Port Harcourt, BusinessDay was inundated with calls from Nigerians anxious about the president's health. The anxiety was fuelled by the blackout on President Yar'Adua's medical trip and was yesterday condemned by the Lagos State branch of opposition party Action Congress, which demanded "full disclosure of his health condition." The Tuesday trip to Saudi Arabia, the third in four months, seemed to have caught Nigerians unawares, coming at a time that the Senate and the House of Representatives were caught in a supremacy conflict over the chamber to be used for the joint sitting of the National Assembly where Yar'Adua was supposed to have presented the 2010 budget proposal. The intensity of the concern may have reached the presidency, prompting Michael Aondoakaa, attorney general and minister of justice, to issue a statement to "clear the air." Affirming that the president is hale and hearty, Aondoakaa stated that "we have received with great shock and dismay the rumours making the rounds about the state of health of Mr. President and wish to state that the President has gone to Saudi Arabia for routine medical check." According to the AGF whose statement was issued by Onov Tyuuluh, his special assistant, it is normal for the President to embark on routine medical trip and to also go on vacation. "It is unfortunate that cynics always read meanings to the movement of the president, especially, whenever he travels outside the country" he said. Aondoakaa, who came into the country yesterday from an official trip to Trinidad & Tobago, noted that he is in constant touch with the president in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He said what is needed is for Nigeria to be focused and wish the President well. He noted that the President is committed to the wellbeing of the citizenry adding that he is due back in the country as soon as he completes his medical check up and short vacation in Saudi Arabia. On August 14, the president made a two-week medical trip to Germany, followed by another on September 22 to Saudi Arabia at a time he was expected to attend the United Nations' General Assembly meeting in New York. On each occasion, no explanation was given on the nature of the ailment, eliciting sharp criticism from the public on the management of information processes on the health of Yar'Adua by the presidency. In a release in Lagos, signed by Joe Igbokwe, Lagos State publicity secretary of AC, Lagos AC says it is unfortunate that the president is saddled with a demanding health challenge. "While we see the president's illness as regrettable, we believe that God knows best in the affairs of men. We wish him speedy recovery in the latest experience and hope his condition does not get worsened by the tasking demands of his office. We are sincerely affected by the president's frail health and wish he lives longer but we are more concerned about the sorry state of the country under his watch. "We are however compelled to posit that the president's health crisis, as well as its handling by the presidency and the PDP, has become a huge source of embarrassment to the country. More embarrassing is that after over 10 years of rulership, the PDP has not built any worthwhile health institution that will attend to the health needs of not only President Yar'Adua but other Nigerians. It is indeed a terrible indictment of the government the PDP has been running since the present Nigerian queer democracy dawned in 1999. Nothing makes the case for full disclosure of the president's state of health more compelling than the fact that he still presides over the affairs of such a sick and troubled nation that requires the full services of a competent and healthy president", the AC statement read.