Final salute: Nigeria Bids Buhari Emotional Farewell

President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima led a galaxy of Nigeria’s elite, including former Presidents, to Daura, Katsina State on Tuesday to pay their final respects as the nation laid to rest the ex-military Head of State and two-term democratically elected President, Muhammadu Buhari.

Tinubu personally received Buhari’s flag-draped remains at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina shortly after 2 p.m., following its departure from London earlier that morning aboard the Presidential Aircraft on which Buhari rode during his eight-year tenure.

The burial ceremony, conducted according to Islamic rites by the Chief Imam of Daura, Sheikh Salisu Rabiu, attracted international dignitaries, including President Umaru Sissoci Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, Ali Zeine, and former President of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou.

Former Vice Presidents Yemi Osinbajo and Atiku Abubakar were also present, alongside the National Assembly leadership, including Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; Deputy Senate President, Barau  Jibrin; Senator Kawu Sumaila, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Senator Sani Bello, Senator Abu Ibrahim, and Senator Yariman Bakura.

Security chiefs in attendance included Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Olufemi Oluyede; Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla; former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai (retd.), and former Director General of DSS, Yusuf Bichi.

Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda led the state government delegation, which included Deputy Governor Faruq Jobe, Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly Nasir Daura, Secretary to the State Government Abdullahi Faskari, and members of the State Executive Council.

Federal Government officials present included Senior Special Assistant to the President on Political and Other Matters, Ibrahim Masari; Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Isiaq Salako; and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, among others.

Former President Buhari passed away on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in a London hospital.

Vice President Shettima, Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, President Buhari’s wife Aisha, and other family members accompanied President Buhari’s remains to Nigeria.

President Tinubu, along with Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Umaru Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Lamine Zeine, former President of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, received the casket of the late President at the foot of the aircraft.

A joint team of military pallbearers comprising nine senior officers laid the casket, draped with the Nigerian flag, on a trolley. The team included Major-General Mohammed Usman, Major-General Oluwafemi Williams, Major-General Shuaibu Nuhu, Rear Admiral Suleiman Dahun, Rear Admiral Jonathan Ajodo, Rear Admiral Samuel Ngatuwa, Air Vice Marshal Adeniyi Herbert Amesinlola, Air Vice Marshal Idi Sanni, and Air Vice Marshal Obinna Obiabaka. Major General Mike Alechenu coordinated the team.

The pallbearers wheeled the former leader’s casket in a slow march, in sync with the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” passing through a full military guard of honour comprising six officers and 96 soldiers drawn from the Nigerian Armed Forces.

President Tinubu and others walked behind the casket trolley in a solemn procession. The pallbearers escorted the casket into a waiting military hearse for the one-hour journey to Daura, where funeral prayers and the burial ceremony took place.