Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has died from complications related to Covid-19 after a nearly month-long battle with the virus.
The late Chief of Staff died at First Cardiology Consultant, Ikoyi on Friday when his condition got drastically worse.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, confirmed Kyari’s death in a tweet he posted on his Twitter handle at 12:44 am early Saturday.
He tweeted, “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.”
Also, Bashir Ahmad, Personal Assistant on New Media to President Muhammadu Buhari also confirmed the passing away of the former Chief of Staff.
He tweeted, “Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, has died. May Allah forgive his shortcomings and grant him the highest rank of Jannah. Allah ya jikan sa”.
It would be recalled that the late Chief of Staff had, on 24 March, 2020, tested positive for COVID-19.
Following speculations about his health status and whereabouts, the presidency announced days after that Kyari was responding to treatment.
Nigerians also criticised the late Chief of Staff and the Federal Government for their decision to treat Abba Kyari at a private hospital in Lagos instead of the government facilities.
To diffuse the tension around his decision to seek medical succour at a private medical facility, the late Chief of Staff, on March 30 released a public statement where he explained that:
“I am writing to let you know that on medical advice, I will transfer to Lagos later today for additional tests and observation. 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 the protocols government has announced to self-isolate and quarantine.
“I made my own care arrangements to avoid further burdening the public health system, which faces so many pressures. Like many others that will test also positive, I have not experienced high fever or other symptoms associated with this new virus and have been working from home. I hope to be back at my desk very soon. I have a team of young, professional, knowledgeable and patriotic colleagues, whose dedication has been beyond the call of duty, who continue to work seven days a week, with no time of the day spared. We will continue to serve the President and people of Nigeria, as we have for the past five years.”
Shortly after Kyari’s public statement, a report tagged “LEAKED Audio: Buhari, Abba Kyari, secretly flown out of Nigeria?” surfaced online. This report argued that the late Chief of Staff had secretly left the country to have himself treated of the Coronavirus. However, the presidency quickly issued a statement, describing the report as false.
Presidential aide, Bashir Ahmad, also refuted the claim. On his twitter page, he explained that:
“The voice note that President @MBuhari and Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari have been secretly flown out of the country is totally “UNTRUE”.
“It was intentionally recorded to cause chaos and fear”.
On April 3, reports on social media also suggested that Kyari, who was being treated for Coronavirus at the time was dead.
The rumour was started Thursday, April 2 via a tweet by Kemi Olunloyo, a pharmacist, who now claims to be an investigative journalist.
She claimed ‘a high ranking member of President Buhari’s Cabinet has DIED from coronavirus complications’.
Her followers on Twitter swallowed the news hook, line and sinker. By midnight, it had recorded over 5,600 retweets and 9,700 likes.
However presidential spokesmen Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, in text responses to newsmen, dismissed the tweet as fake news.
This also attracted condemnation from critic, Femi Fani-Kayode, who lashed out at those peddling rumour that Kyari was dead. Fani-Kayode described those peddling rumour of Kyari’s death as vicious and heartless.
In his tweet, Fani-Kayode said “it is not true that Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to Muhammadu Buhari is dead. Those that are behind that rumour are vicious and heartless”.
“I remain opposed to the Muhammadu Buhari administration, but to wish or proclaim someone dead simply because you disagree with him politically is unacceptable,” he tweeted.
While the late Chief of Staff was said to be in high spirits and widely expected to recover, there have been reports of Kyari’s underlying health conditions.
KAFTAN Post authoritatively learnt that the late Chief of Staff had an underlying history of diabetes and was constantly required to inject insulin many times a day over the years.
KAFTAN Post recall that on the morning of December 1,2016, late Abba Kyari was rushed to London on a British Airway flight for medical attention after he started experiencing breathing difficulties due to diabetes complications.
Despite his high profile role, the late chief of staff has not been one for the political limelight. There are few official public photographs of him and even his official age was not readily available in the early obituaries though he is believed to be in his mid to late 60’s.
Late Kyari, who graduated from Cambridge and Warwick universities in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, was often described as an intellectual by those who dealt with him.
Late Kyari, who was of the Shuwa ethnic nationality from Borno State, also attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and participated in the Programme for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
A trained lawyer, late Kyari worked for the law firms Remi Fani-Kayode and George Sodeinde Sowemimo after his return to Nigeria in the 1980s.
From 1988 to 1990, he was Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna.
In 1990, he served as a Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in Borno State.
From 1990 to 1995, late Kyari was secretary to the board of African International Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
Late Kyari was an executive director in charge of management services at the United Bank for Africa, and was later appointed the bank’s chief executive officer.
In 2002, he was appointed a board director of Unilever Nigeria, and later served on the board of Exxon Mobil Nigeria.
His sojourn in the national limelight begun in August 2015, following his appointment as the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
As the President’s Chief of Staff, Kyari was widely regarded as one of the three most powerful people in Africa’s most populous and largest economy and said to have the complete trust of the President. Some had even described him as the defacto head of the government because in Nigeria where the presidency holds an inordinate amount of centralised power and government revenue, deciding who has access to the president accords immense power and influence.
Late Kyari is survived by his wife and four children.
Kyari was one of several high profile political figures in Nigeria to have contracted the virus. The state Governor of Bauchi, Bala Mohammed and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde both contracted the virus in March and have since recovered. However, the Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai is still undergoing treatment.
Nigeria still has a relatively low number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with just 493 and 17 deaths, relative to its 200 million population. But there have been significant concerns that while the country has been witnessing an incredible surge in coronavirus cases for three days now, enough tests are not being done to be certain of the exact number with just 7,261 tests done so far.
