The family of the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, has announced the passing on of the former President this afternoon in a clinic in London.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the passing of his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement signed by Special Adviser to the President,
Information and Strategy , Bayo Onanuga said President Buhari died today in London at about 4.30 pm, following a prolonged illness.
Onanuga stated that President Tinubu has spoken with Mrs Aishat Buhari, the former President’s widow and offered his deep condolences.
President Tinubu has also ordered Vice President Kashim Shettima to proceed to the United Kingdom to accompany President Muhammadu Buhari’s body back to Nigeria.
Former President Buhari was twice elected Nigeria’s President in 2015 and 2023.
He also served as military head of state between January 1984 and August 1985.
President Tinubu has ordered flags at half-staff as a mark of respect for the departed leader.
Buhari was born to a Muslim family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, Katsina State, Nigeria.
He was the twenty third child of Mallam Hardo Adamu, a Fula chieftain originally from Dumurkul in Mai’Adua and Zulaihat.
He was named after ninth-century Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari.
Buhari’s great-grandfather, Yusuf, was a businessman. Buhari was four years old When his father died, and Waziri Alhassan, the son of the Emir, Musa dan Nuhu (reigned: 1904–1911), became the guardian of Zulaihat and her six children, including Buhari.
Buhari attended Qur’anic school, where he helped in rearing cattle.
He had his primary education in Daura and Mai’Adua, and graduated in 1953. He was admitted into Katsina Middle School (later renamed to Katsina Provincial Secondary School), where he had his secondary education from 1956 to 1961.
During his sixth form, he served as the house captain and headboy of the school.
In 1960, he was awarded scholarship by the Elder Dempster Lines for a summer visit to the United Kingdom.
Buhari wanted to pursue a medical degree to become a doctor, however, the only option at the time was to study Pharmacology at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology in Zaria, which would take him many years.
He was advised by Mamman Daura to join the Nigerian military and pursue higher education there. Inspired by the then junior officer Hassan Katsina, who took young boys in Katsina State, including Buhari, on night hikes, where they camped under the stars.
In 1962, at the age of 19, Buhari was one of 70 boys selected for recruitment into the Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC).
In February 1964, NMTC was upgraded to an officer commissioning unit of the Nigerian Army and was renamed Nigerian Defence Academy. From 1962 to 1963, Buhari underwent officer cadet training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England.
In January 1963, at the age of 20, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta, Nigeria, and attended the Platoon Commanders’ Course at the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna, Kaduna State, from November 1963 to January 1964.
In 1964, he further moved to the Mechanical Transport Officer’s Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, United Kingdom.
From 1965 to 1967, Buhari served as commander of the Second Infantry Battalion and was appointed brigade major of the Second Sector, First Infantry Division (April 1967 to July 1967). Following the 1966 Nigerian coup d’état that killed the Premier of Northern Nigeria Ahmadu Bello, Buhari, alongside other officers from Northern Nigeria, took part in the July counter-coup which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi, replacing him with General Yakubu Gowon.
Buhari ran for president of Nigeria on the platform and support of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 and 2007, and on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform in 2011.
In December 2014, he emerged as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress party for the 2015 general election.
Buhari won the election, defeating incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
It was the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent President lost a re-election bid. He was sworn in on 29 May 2015.
In February 2019, Buhari was re-elected, defeating his closest rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, by over 3 million votes.
He died on 13 July 2025 in London.
