Abba Kyari the Chief of Staff to Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has passed away on Friday 17th April, he died of Coronavirus, Aged 80-years.
The presidency confirms the death early Saturday through its spokesman Mr Garba Shehu.
In a twitter post, Shehu said;
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.
Funaral arrangements will be announced shortly.
According to reports, Both men had travelled to Germany to meet with officials of Siemens AG in pursuit of the deal recently signed between the Nigerian government and the energy company towards improving electricity supply in the country.
On March 29, Mr Kyari issued a statement on his decision to move to Lagos for “further test and observation.”
The statement was the first official confirmation of his COVID-19 status since he was confirmed positive six days earlier.
In his statement, he said;
“I have made my own care arrangements to avoid further burdening the public health system, which faces so many pressures.”
“This is a precautionary measure: I feel well, but last week I tested positive for Coronavirus, the pandemic that is sweeping the world. I have followed all protocols the government has announced to self-isolate and quarantine,” he said.
Abba Kyari becomes the first Top Nigerian politician to died of the novel coronavirus.
It is unclear Saturday morning if Mr Kyari’s death is among the four new deaths announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) late on Friday.
The NCDC said Nigeria’s death toll increased to 17 on Friday from 13 on Thursday.
Nigeria has 493 confirmed cases of COVID-19 including the 17 deaths while 157 people have recovered and have been discharged.
