Former Nigeria President Muhammad Buhari. Photo: BBC.
Former Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari dies at 82. His passing was announced by former presidential spokesman Garba Shehu.
In an X post Shehu said ex-president Muhammadu Buhari died in an hospital in London. Buhari served as military general in his 80’s and elected president twice his return to civilian rule in 1999.
“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.
During his presidency, Buhari struggled to tackle endemic poverty and unemployment in Africa’s most-populous nation, or counter widespread insecurity and a spate of kidnappings. He also battled to diversify the economy away from oil, which accounts for the vast majority of Nigeria’s foreign-exchange earnings.
The economy dipped into recession twice within four years during his tenure and Nigerians grew poorer and less secure by nearly every measure. The World Bank estimates Nigeria has one of the highest number of people living in extreme poverty in the world.
Buhari stepped down in May 2023, at the end of his second elected four-year term, and was replaced by the incumbent Bola Tinubu.
