• Shettima to accompany late President’s remains from London
By David Akinadewo-Adekahunsi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally announced the death of his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away this afternoon in London following a prolonged illness. He was 82.
According to a statement released by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Buhari died at about 4:30pm on Sunday.
The late President, who served as Nigeria’s elected leader between 2015 and 2023, and earlier as military Head of State from January 1984 to August 1985, died in a private clinic in the United Kingdom, where he had been receiving treatment.
President Tinubu has spoken with Buhari’s widow, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, offering his heartfelt condolences to the family and the nation.
As a mark of honour, Tinubu has ordered all national flags to be flown at half-mast and directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to immediately proceed to the United Kingdom to accompany the late statesman’s body back to Nigeria for burial.
Although an official funeral programme has yet to be announced, sources close to the presidency indicated that arrangements are being made in accordance with Islamic rites and national honours.
President Buhari remains one of the most prominent figures in Nigeria’s post-independence political history.
His first rise to national leadership came via military coup in 1983, after which he ruled for 20 months before being ousted.
Decades later, he returned to power as a democratically elected president in 2015, marking a historic moment in Nigeria’s democracy as the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president at the polls.
His tenure was defined by a strong anti-corruption posture, heavy investment in infrastructure, and a war on terror, particularly against Boko Haram.
Yet he also faced widespread criticism over economic downturns, human rights concerns, and persistent insecurity.
As tributes continue to pour in from across Nigeria and abroad, President Tinubu said the nation has lost “a giant, a patriot, and a leader who bore the burdens of office with dignity and discipline.”
Details of the return of Buhari’s remains and the final burial rites are expected to be made public by the family and the Federal Government in the coming hours.
