President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday received the remains of former President Muhammadu Buhari at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina.
President Tinubu arrived from Abuja at exactly 1:42 p.m. and inspected a guard of honour before the Nigerian Air Force aircraft conveying Buhari’s remains landed at 1:51 p.m.
The former President died on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at a hospital in London.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Buhari’s widow, Aisha, and other family members accompanied the late President’s body back to Nigeria.
President Tinubu, alongside Vice President Shettima, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Lamine Zeine, former Nigerien President Issoufou Mahamadou, and former Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, received the casket at the foot of the aircraft.
A joint team of military pallbearers, made up of nine senior officers and coordinated by Major General Mike Alechenu, conveyed the casket—draped in the Nigerian flag—on a ceremonial trolley. The pallbearers included Major-General Mohammed Usman, Major-General Oluwafemi Williams, Major-General Shuaibu Nudu, Rear Admiral Suleiman Dahun, Rear Admiral Jonathan Ajodo, Rear Admiral Samuel Ngatuwa, Air Vice Marshal Adeniyi Herbert Amesinlola, Air Vice Marshal Idi Sanni, and Air Vice Marshal Obinna Obiabaka.
In a slow, solemn march, the pallbearers wheeled the casket through a full military guard of honour comprising six officers and 96 soldiers, to the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”
President Tinubu and other dignitaries followed in a solemn procession as the casket was placed in a waiting military hearse for the journey to Daura, Buhari’s hometown, where funeral prayers and burial rites would be held.
The ceremony featured full military honours, including a 21-gun salute.
