“Buhari refused to attend chief of army staff’s burial because of traffic” – Presidency

President Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Garba Shehu, has given reasons why his principal was absent at the burial of late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and other military personnel.

Attahiru and 10 officers died in a plane crash on Friday while on an official trip to Kaduna and were buried on Saturday.

However, Buhari failed to attend and instead sent a delegation led by the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor.

Speaking on Arise News, Shehu on Wednesday said although he had not spoken to the President about the issue, Buhari is concerned about the safety and wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians on the streets.

He said, “

I was in Europe myself on assignment and I have not spoken to the president on this but let me give you just one example.

“The president is somebody who is so concerned about the safety and wellbeing of ordinary Nigerians on the streets.

“Do you know why he now prays his Jumaat in the statehouse and doesn’t go to the national mosque? Because he doesn’t like this idea of closing roads, security men molesting people on the road for the president to have the right of way.

“These are small things for many people but they are important for President Muhammadu Buhari. So, it is a mourning situation and the president didn’t want to take away attention from that,” he added.