Former President Muhammadu Buhari was laid to rest in Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu, joined by some African leaders, received the remains of the former president at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport in Katsina.
The African leaders who were present included: President Umaru Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau; Ali Lamine Zeine, prime minister of Niger; Issoufou Mahamadou, former President of Niger, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who joined to receive the casket of the late president at the foot of the aircraft.
President Tinubu had earlier in the day left Abuja for Katsina to participate in the burial arrangements of the late former Nigerian president who died on Sunday in London,
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, disclosed on his X handle that President Tinubu arrived at the airport 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.
Read also: World leaders pay tribute as Nigeria mourns former President Muhammadu Buhari
Recall that former President Buhari passed away on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in a London hospital.
Buhari’s body was escorted to Nigeria by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the President; President Buhari’s wife, Aisha, and other family members.
“On arrival of the body, 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,” Onanuga said.
“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 Nudu, 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, according to him, “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.”
There were full military honours as well as a 21-gun salute.
