Former Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, has died at the age of 82 years in a London clinic, PTI quoted his press secretary as saying on Sunday. Prior to his death, he was receiving medical treatment in London.
“President Buhari died today in London at about 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), following a prolonged illness,” President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said in a post on X.
Buhari had previously led Nigeria twice as a military head of state and a democratic president.
He was the first president to defeat a sitting president after he was elected in 2015.
About Muhammadu Buhari:
Born in December 1942 in Daura in Katsina state in the far north of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari was admitted to the Nigerian Military Training College soon after leaving school. He joined the Nigerian army shortly after independence.
He undertook officer training in the UK from 1962-1963 and climbed up the ranks. He became a military commander by 1978, and by 1983, he became the country’s military ruler after a coup, against elected President Shehu Shagari. Though he claimed he was not one of the plotters but was installed by those who held the real power and needed a figurehead, reported BBC.
Muhammadu Buhari was never considered a natural politician, but a self-styled converted democrat.
Burari achieved a historic victory in 2015 after three failed attempts and became the country’s first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent President. He was re-elected for another four-year term in 2019.
Always popular among the poor of the north, however, Burari also had the advantage of a united opposition grouping behind him for his 2015 campaign.
Burari united people to fight against the Islamist insurgency in the north. He had promised to tackle corruption and nepotism in government, and create employment opportunities for young Nigerians at that time.
But his terms in office were marred by a slump in global oil prices and the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Even his administration also came under fire for its handling of insecurity.