President Bola Tinubu, along with his vice, Kashim Shettima, and foreign dignitaries, bid the former president Muhammadu Buhari farewell in Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday.
The funeral of the late former president was attended by other government officials, mourners, and sympathisers at his residence.
The remains of former President Muhammadu Buhari have arrived at his Daura residence, where he was laid to rest according to Islamic customs following a funeral prayer to be led by the Chief Imam of Katsina.
A crowd of mourners gathered outside the family compound in Daura to pay their last respects to the late Nigerian leader, whose passing on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in a London hospital, has drawn widespread condolences.
Buhari’s body, flown from the United Kingdom earlier on Tuesday, was received at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina by President Bola Tinubu, who arrived from Abuja at 1:42 p.m. Shortly after inspecting a guard of honour, the Nigerian Air Force plane carrying Buhari’s remains touched down at 1:51 p.m.
Joining Tinubu at the reception were Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, and several members of the late president’s family. Foreign dignitaries, including President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine, former President of Niger Issoufou Mahamadou, and former Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, were also present at the solemn ceremony.
First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu was seen welcoming and consoling Buhari’s widow, Aisha Buhari, as the nation began its official farewell to the late leader.
A joint military pallbearer unit, made up of nine senior officers from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, handled the casket, which was draped in the national flag. The team included Major-Generals Mohammed Usman, Oluwafemi Williams, and Shuaibu Nudu; Rear Admirals Suleiman Dahun, Jonathan Ajodo, and Samuel Ngatuwa; and Air Vice Marshals Adeniyi Herbert Amesinlola, Idi Sanni, and Obinna Obiabaka. Major General Mike Alechenu coordinated the detail.
As the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” played, the pallbearers solemnly wheeled the casket past a full military guard of honour made up of six officers and 96 soldiers from across the Armed Forces. President Tinubu and other dignitaries followed the procession behind the casket trolley in a silent tribute.
The body was then placed in a military hearse for the hour-long journey to Daura, where it will be interred following Janazah (Islamic funeral) prayers.
The funeral ceremony was marked by full military rites, including a 21-gun salute, as Nigeria paid its final respects to one of its longest-serving leaders.
Upon departure from London, the body left London, United Kingdom, at approximately 8:00 a.m. and was accompanied by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and some family members of the late former president.
Muhammadu Buhari served as Nigeria’s head of state twice — first as a military ruler from January 1984 to August 1985, and later as an elected civilian president from 2015 to 2023, making him the country’s second-longest-serving leader.
He died in London at the age of 82 after receiving treatment for many weeks in London.
His spokesperson, Garba Shehu, announced the news of his death.
Born in Daura, Katsina State, Buhari first led Nigeria as a military ruler from January 1984 to August 1985. After the return to civilian rule in 1999, he ran for president three times unsuccessfully—in 2003, 2007, and 2011.
Buhari in politics
In 2013, his political party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), merged with other opposition parties—including Bola Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)—to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
That coalition led to a landmark victory in the 2015 presidential election, with Buhari and his running mate Yemi Osinbajo defeating the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan. It was the first time an opposition party unseated a sitting president in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.
Buhari was re-elected in 2019 and served two full terms, eventually handing over power to President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima on May 29, 2023.
