“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.”
This was a statement published by Garba Shehu, the official spokesperson to the President of Nigeria on his official Twitter handle.
This announcement comes amid speculations of where the late Chief of Staff was being treated after it was announced he tested positive to covid-19 some weeks ago.
Muhammadu Buhari has not made any public statement about the demise of his Chief of Staff.
A Kanuri from Borno, not much is known about Abba Kyari’s early life. In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Warwick, and also received a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge. In 1983, he was called to the Nigerian Bar after attending the Nigerian Law School.
In 1984, he obtained a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge. He later attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and participated in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
Kyari was an influential figure within the Buhari administration. During the administration’s first term, he worked mainly behind the scenes to implement the president’s agenda. In 2019 with Buhari’s re-election for a second term, he ordered his cabinet to channel all requests through Kyari’s office. Further enhancing his influence within government circles, and being labelled as the de facto head of government.
