Former vice president Atiku Abubakar says he is saddened by the demise of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari.
Kyari, according to the presidency, died on Friday as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
But the Nigerian presidency did not disclose where Kyari, who was in his early 70s, died.
Kyari had tested positive for the coronavirus in late March following his trip to Munich, Germany.
“The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari,” Buhari’s media aide Femi Adesina said in a statement Saturday morning.
Reacting to Kyari’s death, Atiku, in a Facebook post, said: “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. I am saddened by the death of Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari. May Allah SWT comfort his family, forgive his sins and grant him AlJannah Firdaus. Ameen.”
It is understood that Kyari’s underlying medical conditions complicated his battle with COVID-19.
He had tested positive for the virus while his principal, Buhari, was said to be negative.
President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and some governors, ministers and other top government officials had mingled with Kyari shortly before he tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Kyari, who was from Borno state, northeast Nigeria, was a lawyer and banker.
He studied at the University of Warwick and University of Cambridge, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from and a law degree respectively.
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