Nigerian VP says President Yar'Adua is healthy

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he had spoken to President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, and that the president was in good health.

"We spoke yesterday and even this morning ... He asked me to convey his personal greetings to all Nigerians," Jonathan said during celebrations to mark a Muslim holiday.

"Let me assure Nigerians that the president is okay. We spoke before he left this country and we have been speaking ... I assure you that Mr President is healthy," he said.

Yar'Adua is being treated in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah for acute pericarditis -- an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart that can restrict normal beating -- but is responding well to treatment, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Pericarditis usually lasts one to three weeks, but is treatable with drugs or, in extreme cases, surgery. About 20 percent of pericarditis patients have a recurrence within months, according to the American Heart Association.