PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Tuesday received the remains of former President Muhammadu Buhari at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina.
President Tinubu arrived at the airport from Abuja at 1:42 p.m. and inspected a guard of honour before the Nigerian Air Force plane conveying the remains of his predecessor landed at exactly 1:51 p.m.
Former President Buhari passed away on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in a London hospital.
Vice President Kashim 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 would take place.
The state funeral featured full military honours, including a 21-gun salute.
[15/07, 19:28] JOHNBOSCO VANG: Tinubu, Shettima, Guinea Bissau President
Sissoco Embalo, Niger PM Lamine Zeine, dignitaries bid farewell as ex-President Buhari laid to rest in Daura
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA — FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari has been laid to rest at his residence in Daura, Katsina State, following funeral prayers and interment attended by numerous dignitaries led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Large crowds lined the streets of Daura and gathered at the former President’s residence to pay their last respects.
The former President’s final journey began on Tuesday afternoon, when his body arrived from London at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina.
President Tinubu and other dignitaries, including Vice President Kashim Shettima, President Umaru Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger Republic, Ali Lamine Zeine, former President of Niger Republic, Issoufou Mahamadou, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, governors and business leaders, escorted the late President’s remains on the hour-long drive to Daura.
Upon arrival, a brief lying-in-state ceremony was held at President Buhari’s residence, followed by the funeral prayer (Salatul Janazah) led by Sheikh Salisu Rabiu, the Imam of the Central Mosque in Daura.
President Tinubu and the late President’s close family members witnessed the final interment at 5.50 p.m
The state funeral was marked by full military honours, including a reveille and a 21-gun salute. A weeklong programme of events will continue later on Tuesday with a condolence visit to President Buhari’s family by the Presidential Committee.
