TheCable

Prince Charles of Wales has described the passing of Abba Kyari, late chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, as “desperately sad.”

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, quoted Charles as sending his “deepest possible sympathy” to Buhari and Nigerians in a statement on Wednesday.

Kyari died on Friday after battling COVID-19.

The British heir-to-the-throne was also quoted as saying: “I can only begin to imagine what an immense gap Mr. Kyari’s untimely death will leave in Your Excellency’s life and my heart goes to you and Mr. Kyari’s family.”

Shehu added that the Rwandan President Paul Kagame also condoled with Nigeria over the death of the late chief of staff to the president.

He said Kagame’s “heart-felt” condolence came through a message from the embassy of Rwanda in Abuja, in which he expressed “solidarity to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as we are faced with the Covid-19 global crisis.”

Others who mourned Kyari include Namadi Sambo, former vice-president, who described his death as a “monumental national loss” as well as Abdulsamad Rabi’u, billionaire businessman.

Also included are Ahmad Ibn Saleh, emir of Gazargamu in Yobe state; Adamu Maje, emir of Hadejia, Jigawa; and the secretariat of the developing D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation headquarters in Ankara, Turkey among others.