Buhari’s Chief Of Staff, Abba Kyari, Reportedly Sick, Suspected Of Contracting Coronavirus
Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, is said to be seriously ill and in fact suspected of being infected with Coronavirus.
A top government source told SaharaReporters on Monday that Kyari has been seriously “down” since returning from a trip abroad.
Kyari visited Germany and Egypt and only returned this week, giving credence to the fact that he may have indeed been infected with the virus.
Egypt has 327 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 14 deaths while Germany has 29,056 infections and 123 deaths.
Though coughing severely, Kyari is said to have been attending meetings including with Buhari, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, ministers and other members of the Federal Executive Council.
Executive Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Prof James Momoh, was said to have accompanied Kyari on the trip to both countries.
The latest development comes hours after a leaked memo showed Kyari telling Nigerian legislators, who recently returned from foreign trips, to submit themselves for Coronavirus test.
It also comes after Aisha Buhari, wife of Nigeria’s President, disclosed that one of her daughters was in self-isolation after returning from the United Kingdom, one of the high risk countries for the virus.
On Monday, Nigeria confirmed its first Coronavirus death after a former Managing Director of Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Suleiman Achimugu, succumbed to the virus in Abuja.
Earlier, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control announced a total of 36 confirmed cases but with Kyari’s suspected infection, that figure may have now risen to 37.
Meanwhile, there was tension among National Assembly workers, journalists and staff of private establishments within the complex on Monday as the federal lawmakers prepare to resume plenary today (Tuesday).
The Presidency’s letter to the leadership of the federal parliament alleging that some lawmakers failed to undergo screening at the airport, on arrival from a foreign trip recently, caused anxiety among the people at the complex on Monday.
Already journalists covering the Senate have vowed to steer clear of their press centre on Tuesday because of the danger in sitting at the overcrowded facility with no feasible ventilation.
Staff of the banks within the complex said they would attend to customers but with the highest conformity to the rules on social distancing and provision of hand sanitizer for customers.
