Breaking! President Buhari’s Chief-of-Staff Abba Kyari is dead

The Chief-of-Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Abba Kyari, has died after four weeks of testing positive for COVID-19.

News that Abba Kyari had tested positive for COVID-19 first broke on March 24, about 10 days after he returned from a trip to Germany during which he met with officials of Siemens in Munich on Nigeria’s electricity expansion program.

Mr Kyari confirmed the news in a statement on March 29, the same day President Buhari made his first nationwide broadcast on the pandemic and announced a two-week lockdown in Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

In his statement, Mr Kyari revealed that he would be transferred to Lagos from the FCT for treatment and expressed the hope that he would recover and return to work soon.

At the time, Mr Kyari said he felt well and did not exhibit any signs of the disease, which has now infected 493 people in the country and claimed 17 lives, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, announced Mr Kyari’s death.

Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, passes on. May God rest his soul. Amen. Funeral arrangements to be announced soon.

— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) April 17, 2020

Another of the president’s spokespersons, Mr. Garba Shehu, who also tweeted about the development and revealed that Abba Kyari died on Friday.

The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 17, 2020

The deceased had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19, and had been receiving treatment. But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020.

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 17, 2020

May God accept his soul.

Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 17, 2020