Nigeria's information minister has urged cabinet colleagues to accept that President Umaru Yar'Adua is no longer fit to lead, a BBC source confirms.

一条BBC消息证实，尼日利亚新闻部长呼吁内阁成员接受总统雅阿杜阿已不能担任领导的事实。

Dora Akunyili: President\'s absence has paralysed government

In the first sign of a cabinet split over the saga冒险故事，传说, Dora Akunyili tabled a memo² requesting power be handed over to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Cabinet sources told the BBC her motion was shouted down大声喊叫以压倒对方.

Mr Yar'Adua has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since November, fuelling fears of a power vacuum.

His absence has led to a flurry慌张，骚动 of court cases and street protests demanding that power be handed over.

Despite his long absence, the cabinet issued a statement last week saying Mr Yar'Adua was "not incapable³" of running the country.

The federal high court has ruled that there is no constitutional requirement for the president to hand power to his deputy but says the vice-president can act on his behalf.

In a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Ms Akunyili told her colleagues that the president should hand over power because his absence had paralysed瘫痪 government.

No cabinet ministers have commented on the meeting, and the memo has not been made public.

But it is believed Ms Akunyili intends to file the same motion in next week's meeting.

Nigeria's split between the mainly-Muslim north and the mainly-Christian south has complicated复杂 the issue, analysts⁴ say.

Northern power-brokers may be reluctant to see Mr Yar'Adua, a northerner, hand over power to Vice-President Jonathan, from the south, before the next scheduled presidential elections in 2011.

Since the return to civilian⁵ rule, power has usually rotated转动，旋转 between the regions.

The president is suffering from an inflammation发炎，炎症 of the lining⁶ around the heart and has long suffered from kidney problems.