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The cabinet, or Federal Executive Council, has twice passed resolutions saying Yar'Adua remains fit to govern despite calls from the Senate, former heads of state and elder statesmen, the Nigerian Bar Association and the media for him to hand over.

Other than impeachment by parliament, a long-winded process which would require a majority vote seen as hard to secure, only the cabinet can force Yar'Adua to hand over executive powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

The 58-year-old leader has not been seen in public since he left on November 23 to receive treatment for a heart condition in Saudi Arabia. His failure to formally transfer power has led to debate over the legality of government decisions.

At least five of Nigeria's top newspapers carried front-page stories saying Information Minister Dora Akunyili circulated a memo at Wednesday's cabinet meeting asking ministers to discuss Yar'Adua's absence and consider asking him to hand over.

The reports citing unnamed sources said hawks in the cabinet forced her memo off the meeting's agenda and warned Akunyili not to take any copies away or leak them to the media.

"In a memo so contentious that the weekly meeting ... became a shouting match, Mrs Akunyili said members must admit that the president is too ill to rule," the Next newspaper said.

"This major break in the Council's position, the last bastion in defence of an ailing president, signposts the end of a tragic charade," it said.

Akunyili could not immediately be reached to comment. But she was quoted by the Business Day newspaper as confirming she had sent a memo to the cabinet but declining to comment further as ministers had decided not to discuss it at the meeting.

FIRM LEADERSHIP NEEDED

The uncertainty comes at a difficult time for Nigeria.

Militants in the Niger Delta, the heartland of its mainstay energy sector, have threatened an "all-out assault" on oil and gas infrastructure because of delays to the implementation of an amnesty programme agreed last year.

Al Qaeda's North African wing has offered to give Nigerian Muslims training and weapons to fight Christians in the country and praised the actions of a Nigerian man who tried to bomb a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas Day.

Clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs in the central city of Jos killed hundreds of people last month, underscoring the volatility of the country as it approaches the campaign period for presidential elections in 2011.

Pressure on Yar'Adua to either return and prove he is fit to govern or hand over to his deputy has been mounting.

The Senate, former heads of state and ex-ministers, the Nigerian Bar Association and the opposition have all called on Yar'Adua to formally notify parliament of his absence and allow Jonathan to take over until his health is restored.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton in a joint statement last week urged Nigeria to abide by the constitution, saying the nation's stability has ramifications well beyond its borders.

The impasse is being prolonged because the powerful cabal around Yar'Adua insists he remains fit to govern. Legal challenges have come and gone with little effect.

Some of Nigeria's most powerful figures are benefiting from the status quo.

The cabinet of Yar'Adua appointees may lose their jobs if he goes, while powerful former state governors have seen graft cases against them stall under his tenure and fear such apparent immunity may evaporate with a change of guard, analysts say.