Nigeria’s former President, Muhammadu Buhari, is dead.
Mr Buhari died on Sunday at a London hospital, his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said.
He died at 82.
“The family of the former president has announced the passing of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, this afternoon in a clinic in London. May Allah accept him in Aljannatul Firdaus, Amin,” Mr Shehu wrote on X.
Reports suggests that Mr Buhari has been sick for weeks and was receiving treatment at a London hospital.
The former president has been abroad since April. According to sources close to his family, Mr Buhari initially travelled to the United Kingdom for what was described as a routine medical check-up, but subsequently took ill.
Mr Buhari was Nigeria’s president between 2015 and 2023. He stepped down on 29 May 2023 after serving his constitutionally permitted two terms.
He also served as military head of state between January 1984 and August 1985.
During his presidency, he regularly sought medical care in London. Sources say his health improved significantly after he left office, but deteriorated again in April 2025. Since then, he has remained overseas receiving treatment.
Profile
Mr Buhari was born on 17 December 1942 in Daura, Katsina State, to Adamu and Zulaiha Buhari. He was raised by his mother, following the death of his father when he was about four years old. He had his primary school education in Daura and Maiduguri from 1948 to 1952, before proceeding to Katsina Middle School in 1953.
He attended the Katsina Provincial Secondary School (now Government College, Katsina) from 1956–1961, where he earned his West African School Certificate. He was married to Safinatu Yusuf from 1971 to 1988, and since 1989 to Aisha Halilu. He is blessed with ten children.
Mr Buhari joined the Nigerian Army in 1961 when he was admitted to the Nigerian Military Training College, Kaduna.
As a military officer, he first underwent Officer Cadets training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England, from 1962 to 1963, and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in January 1963. He attended the Nigerian Military College, Kaduna, for the Platoon Commanders’ Course from 1963-1964. He was then appointed Platoon Commander of the Second Infantry Battalion in Abeokuta.
In 1965, Mr Buhari attended the Mechanical Transport Officers’ Course at the Army Mechanical Transport School in Borden, England. Further military training included the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, India, in 1973, and the United States Army War College, from June 1979 to June 1980.
He held several key command and staff positions, as well as political appointments, during his illustrious military career. These included Military Secretary; Member, Supreme Military Council; Military Governor of the North Eastern State; Federal Commissioner of Petroleum Resources; Chairman, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; General Officer Commanding, 4th Infantry Division and General Officer Commanding, 3rd Armoured Division.
The military coup of December 1983 led to the emergence of Mr Buhari as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, a position he held until he was ousted in another coup in August 1985.
Politics
Mr Buhari joined politics in 2003, following Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. He joined the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and contested the presidential election on its platform that year. He lost to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olusegun Obasanjo.
He contested to get Nigeria’s top job four times before his victory in 2015.
In 2013, Mr Buhari’s party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), alongside the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), a breakaway faction of the ruling PDP, known as the “new PDP”, and several disenchanted members of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) merged to form the All Progressive Congress (APC).
It was this new party, the APC, much stronger in terms of resources and support base as well as having a pan-Nigerian appeal, that provided the platform upon which Mr Buhari contested the 2015 presidential election.
The perception of most Nigerians about the character of Mr Buhari greatly influenced the outcome of the 2015 elections. During that period, Mr Buhari cut the image of an incorruptible leader and had spurned several past opportunities to enrich himself. His campaign slogan of “Change” was widely embraced by Nigerians who longed for a new direction after 16 years of PDP rule at the national level.
Mr Buhari therefore won a popular victory in the presidential elections of 28 March 2015 and was sworn into office as President, Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May 2015.
He was reelected as president in 2019.
