Former President Muhammad Buhari has been confirmed to have passed on in the United Kingdom, days after leaving Nigeria for treatment in the country.
Buhari, who passed on barely two years after leaving office, died in an intensive care unit of a medical facility in London.
He was said to have been in the facility after being flown to London, where the former president was expected to get the best medical care when his health condition worsened.
But all efforts by the medical experts at the facility to get the former president back on his feet proved abortive, and he was pronounced dead by the hospital on Sunday.
Confirming the development, Buhari’s aide, Garba Shehu, in a short statement made available to newsmen on behalf of the family, stated that the former president died in London.
He said: “The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin”.
Following the announcement, President Bola Tinubu directed the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and other aides to leave for the UK to accompany the former president’s body back home.
Tinubu disclosed that his predecessor passed on in London at about 4.30 pm, following a prolonged illness.
In a statement released by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga, the president has spoken to the deceased former president’s widow, Aishat Buhari, and offered his deep condolences.
The former President was twice elected Nigeria’s President in 2015 and 2023 after serving as military head of state between January 1984 and August 1985.
“President Tinubu has ordered flags at half-staff as a mark of respect for the departed leader”.
