Buhari’s chief of staff Abba Kyari tests positive for coronavirus

The Chief of Staff of the Nigerian president, Abba Kyari, has tested positive for coronavirus, multiple sources said on Tuesday.

Kyari, a close ally to President Muhammadu Buhari, was away in Germany in early March with a delegation of other Nigerian officials for meetings with Siemens AG. It is unclear if he self-isolated before he was tested.

Both the presidency and the nation’s disease control centre are yet to confirm Kyari’s case.

Kyari, who is in his 70s, has a history of medical complications, including diabetes, Reuters reported.

The Chief of Staff remains Buhari’s closest person in the cabinet. In fact, Buhari while inaugurating his ministers in August ordered them to make requests for meetings with him through Kyari.

There are strong possibilities that Kyari has met with the president after he returned from Germany. Multiple media reports said the president was also tested for the virus but his test came out negative.

Kyari has also met with Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello when he represented Buhari at the third day of the Fidau prayer for the governor’s late mother on March 17.

The Minister of information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Special Duty, George Akume, Minister of State for FCT, Ramatu Tijani, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Garba Shehu, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs were also at the event alongside the Chief of Staff.