President Bola Tinubu has approved the formation of an inter-ministerial committee to coordinate a befitting state burial for former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari passed away in London on Sunday, July 13, at the age of 82, following a prolonged illness.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced the decision in Abuja on Monday. He explained that the committee would collaborate with the Katsina State Government and the late president’s family to organise a dignified programme of events.
Senator George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, chairs the committee.
Members include the Ministers of Finance and the Economy; Budget and Economic Planning; Defence; Information and National Orientation; and Works. Also on the committee are the Ministers of Interior; Federal Capital Territory; Housing and Urban Development; State for Health and Social Welfare; and Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy.
Other members include the National Security Adviser; Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political and Other Matters; the Inspector-General of Police; Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS); and the Chief of Defence Staff.
The Permanent Secretary, General Services Office (GSO), will serve as the committee’s secretariat.
As part of the national mourning, President Tinubu has directed all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to open condolence registers for members of the public to pay their respects.
Further condolence registers will be available at Nigerian embassies and missions abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.
Meanwhile, a federal delegation led by Vice President Kashim Shettima is currently in London to finalise documentation and logistics for repatriating the former president’s remains.
Representing President Tinubu, Shettima paid condolence visits to the late president’s widow, Mrs Aisha Buhari, and his ailing nephew, Mamman Daura.
Presidential aide Stanley Nkwocha confirmed that Shettima was accompanied by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, and Deputy Chief of Staff Senator Ibrahim Hadejia.
Body Arrives on Tuesday
Buhari’s remains are expected to arrive in Katsina by noon on Tuesday. A military ceremony will take place at the airport, and President Tinubu will personally receive the body.
The body will then be taken to Daura for the jana’iza (funeral prayer) and burial at his residence by 2 p.m., in accordance with Islamic rites.
Twenty-five members of the Federal Executive Council have been directed to attend the burial and stay in Daura for the third-day prayers on Wednesday.
Tinubu has declared a seven-day period of national mourning from Sunday July 13, during which flags will fly at half-mast nationwide.
Tuesday has been declared a public holiday in honour of the late president.
As a result, the special Federal Executive Council meeting previously scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to Friday July 18.
In Daura, mourners have begun visiting Buhari’s residence to pay their respects, with heightened security observed around the Emirate Council.
Meanwhile, arrangements continue at the London clinic for the release of his body.
Tributes have poured in from across Nigeria and the international community, praising Buhari as a man of integrity and a statesman. He served as Nigeria’s military ruler from 1984 to 1985 and later as an elected president from 2015 to 2023.