Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, passed on today. His death was announced in the wee hours of Saturday morning by the Presidency.
Specifically, the passing of the top presidential aide was confirmed by Special Adviser to the President on Media/Publicity, Femi Adesina. Equally important, the Presidency disclosed this in a brief statement released to the media on Saturday morning.
‘‘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.’’
Meanwhile, 1st News reported that Abba Kyari had tested positive to the dreaded COVID-19 on March 23, 2020. However, he fought a losing battle against the pandemic.
In looking at the life and times of the deceased, here are the top 21 facts you probably did not know about him.
- Abba Kyari was a Kanuri and hailed from Borno State in Nigeria’s North East
- In 1980, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Warwick, UK
- Abba Kyari also bagged a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Cambridge
- A lawyer by training; he was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1983 after attending the Nigerian Law School
- Abba Kyari holds a master’s degree in Law from the University of Cambridge obtained in 1984
- Kyari worked for the law firm, Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time after his return to Nigeria
- He also had a stint in the media from 1988 to 1990, when he worked as Editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited, Kaduna
- In 1990, he served as a Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in Borno State.
- From 1990 to 1995, Kyari was the secretary to the board of African International Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
- Kyari was an executive director in charge of management services at the United Bank for Africa, and was later appointed the chief executive officer
- Kyari was an executive director in charge of management services at the United Bank for Africa, and was later appointed the chief executive officer
- He attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. Also, he participated in the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School, in 1992 and 1994, respectively
- On the home front, he was married to the sister-in-law of Ibrahim Tahir. Tahir was a prominent sociologist, writer, and politician during the Second Republic
- Abba Kyari had four children
- He was first appointed Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2015
- The deceased was a very influential figure throughout the period of his stewardship in Buhari’s cabinet
- Signs of his growing influence further came to light in 2019 with Buhari’s re-election for a second term; when the President ordered his cabinet to channel all requests through Kyari’s office
- In 2017, following a leaked memo, Kyari became embroiled in a public argument with the Head of Civil Service; Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita. She was later removed from office and arrested on corruption charges
- In 2020, in another leaked memo, Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser; accused Kyari of meddling in matters of national security
- He was honoured with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON); one of the two orders of merit in Nigeria
- Abba Kyari died in a Lagos hospital on April 17, 2020, after testing positive for COVID-19.
Source: 1stNews
