COVID-19: Buhari’s Chief Of Staff, Abba Kyari Dies

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari, has died more than two weeks after he tested positive for COVID-19.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, announced Mr Kyari’s death on Twitter.

 

The President’s spokespersons, Mr Garba Shehu, also tweeted about the development, disclosing that  Kyari died on Friday.

 

It would be recalled that Mr Kyari had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 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 programme.

Kyari later 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.

Kyari disclosed 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.

A Kanuri from Borno, Mr Kyari was one of President’s Buhari’s closest allies.

He was appointed Chief of Staff in August 2015, and considered to be one of the most influential and powerful members of the Buhari administration.

Prior to his foray into politics, Kyari had a professional career as a lawyer and spent years in the banking industry, rising to become the Chief Executive Officer of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) at some point