President Bola Tinubu has today received the body of former President Muhammadu Buhari at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina, as Nigeria prepares for the final rites of the late leader in his hometown of Daura.
President Tinubu arrived from Abuja at 1:42 p.m. and inspected a guard of honour. The Nigerian Air Force plane carrying Buhari’s remains touched down at 1:51 p.m.
Buhari passed away on Sunday, July 13, in a London hospital.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Buhari’s widow Aisha, and other close family members accompanied the body on its return to Nigeria.
Also present at the airport to receive the casket were President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Niger Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine, former Niger President Issoufou Mahamadou, and Nigeria’s former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
A joint military team of nine senior officers served as pallbearers, laying the Nigerian flag-draped casket on a trolley. The solemn procession moved in step with the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” passing through a full guard of honour made up of six officers and 96 soldiers.
President Tinubu and other dignitaries followed the procession quietly as the casket was wheeled to a waiting military hearse for the journey to Daura, where funeral prayers and burial would take place.
The final farewell will include full military honours and a 21-gun salute in recognition of Buhari’s service as Nigeria’s former head of state.
