The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari, died yesterday, weeks after testing positive to the deadly coronavirus.
The Presidency announced his death in the early hours of today. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said in a statement that funeral arrangements for the deceased would be announced shortly.
Adesina said the Kyari who had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19 had been receiving treatment.
The statement titled, ‘Chief of Staff to President, Abba Kyari, Passes on’, reads: “The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.
“The deceased had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19, and had been receiving treatment.
But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020. May God accept his soul. Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.”
Kyari would be the first senior public figure to die after battling with the coronavirus.
This is even as the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) yesterday announced 51 new cases in Nigeria, raising the number of confirmed cases to 493, while the total number of death for the country rose to 17.
The late chief of staff to the President had left Abuja for Lagos on Sunday, March 29, 2020 to undergo additional tests and observation. He tested positive to COVID-19 after returning from an official visit to Germany, following which many government functionaries, including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo went into self-isolation.
Sources say the news of his death yesterday shocked many in the Presidential Villa.
Reports also gathered from sources that the remains of the late chief of staff were being prepared for evacuation from Lagos, as arrangements for his burial were also being finalized.
A detailed statement for the burial would be issued early today, sources said.
Buhari appointed him Chief of Staff in August, 2015.
