President Buhari Removes Mask In Public, Flouts COVID-19 Regulations (Photo)

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), removed his protective mask in public on Tuesday evening, just days after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed a case of Delta COVID-19 variant in Nigeria. This was in violation of the Coronavirus Disease Health Protection Regulations (2021) he signed in January.

The President had attended a meal with members of the National Assembly at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja on Tuesday evening.

The President came at the occasion wearing his mask on, but later removed it inside the conference hall, according to photos released by Buhari Sallau, the President’s Personal Assistant on Broadcast Media.

Photos from the occasion also showed President Trump (who was not wearing a mask) talking with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, and House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, who were all wearing masks.Tuesday evening was not the first time the President removed his mask in public; he had removed his mask in January 2021 at a public event in his hometown in Daura, Katsina State.

The Peoples Democratic Party and many Nigerians on social media had slammed the President for the contravention of the regulations which made the use of face masks in public places mandatory among other measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19.