THE powerful chief of staff to Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has died after contracting Covid-19, said the presidency today.

Buhari’s office, in a statement, said it “regrets to announce the passage” of Abba Kyari, who acted as gatekeeper to the president of Africa’s most populous nation.

“The deceased had tested positive (for) the ravaging Covid-19, and had been receiving treatment. But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020.

“May God accept his soul.”

Kyari, in his 70s, is the highest-profile person in Nigeria to be killed by a virus that has infected 493 and claimed 17 lives in the country.

The influential technocrat, said to have had underlying health issues, was seen as one of the dominant figures in the tight-knit group of advisers around Buhari.

Kyari reportedly controlled access to the president, a 77-year-old former military ruler now in his second term as a democratically elected leader, overseeing key meetings and granting ministers audiences.

He tested positive for the virus late last month after visiting Germany, forcing a string of top Nigerian officials who had been in contact with him to self-isolate.

In a statement on March 29, he said he had been transferred to Nigeria’s biggest city of Lagos for private medical treatment, and hoped “to be back at my desk very soon”.

There has been no official confirmation on whether Buhari has been tested, but the president has since made repeated televised speeches imposing restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

The central government has imposed a lockdown on the nation’s economic hub of Lagos and the capital, Abuja, while state governors have ordered a raft of measures in other regions.

Experts have said the country of 200 million is highly vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 given its weak healthcare system and high population density. – AFP, April 18, 2020.