Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will be laid to rest on Monday in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State, following his passing on Sunday afternoon in London.
Okay.ng reported that Buhari died at 4:30 pm in a London clinic, where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. The somber news was confirmed in a statement shared by his former media aide, Garba Shehu, on social media platform X.
The late president, aged 82, will be buried in accordance with Islamic rites, with preparations already underway in Daura to receive his remains.
In a swift response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu expressed deep sorrow over Buhari’s death and immediately dispatched Vice President Kashim Shettima to London. Shettima has been tasked with accompanying the late leader’s body back to Nigeria for burial.
Buhari, a two-time leader of Nigeria, first as a military head of state from 1983 to 1985 and then as a democratically elected president from 2015 to 2023, remains a towering figure in Nigeria’s political history.
His burial in Daura is expected to attract a crowd of dignitaries, political associates, and loyalists from across the country and beyond, as Nigeria begins a period of national mourning.
Okay.ng reports that additional funeral arrangements and tributes from global leaders are expected in the coming hours.