Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai visit Buhari gravesite in Daura

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were among dignitaries who visited the graveside of the late President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Daura, Katsina state.

Also in attendance was Peter Obi, former Anambra governor and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, who visited the former president’s family to condole with them.

Buhari, who served as Nigeria’s military head of state from 1983 to 1985 and later as a democratically elected president between 2015 and 2023, died on Sunday at a London clinic.

His body was flown into Nigeria on Tuesday and was accompanied by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu.

Tinubu received the remains at the Katsina Airport, alongside a government delegation.

The late president was buried that same day in his hometown of Daura, with full military honours. He was laid to rest in a serene spot within his compound’s garden — a place he was known to favour while alive.

“Military pallbearers wheeled Buhari’s body, draped in the colours of the Nigerian flag, to the graveside in a trolley. Gunshots were fired as a mark of respect for the former president and commander-in-chief.”

The solemn occasion drew dignitaries from across the country and thousands of mourners, who gathered to pay their last respects.

“Buhari was buried in a spot where he usually sat in his compound’s garden when he was alive.”

Their presence in Daura reflected bipartisan recognition of Buhari’s influence on Nigeria’s political landscape, both as a former military ruler and two-term civilian president.