SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, (THEWILL) – News reports claim some top aides of President Muhammadu Buhari have been denied access into the Presidential Villa in Abuja for exposure to COVID-19 at the burial of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, who died from COVID-19 complications.
Some of the aides who were spotted at the Gudu Cemetery where the burial was held include Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman, State House Chief Protocol Officer, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Presidential photographers, Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf Sabiu, a nephew to the President, Musa Haro Daura, National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General of National Intelligence Agency, Mr. Ahmad Rufai, and Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmed amongst others.
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The presidency did not respond to THEWILL’s phone calls to speak on the development. However, a presidential aide who asked to remain anonymous said most presidential aides have been working from home because of the coronavirus lockdown in the FCT. The aide said it is plausible that those who attended the funeral and went to the villa could have been denied entry because many at the funeral did not wear protective masks and gloves and violated the social distancing rule put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and exposed attendees to COVID-19.
The aide said the organisers and the VIPS that gatecrashed the ceremony bungled it as it was meant to be a private funeral.
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