….says the late Ex-President Led With Restraint
….Renames University Of Maiduguri After Buhari
…Buhari’s Critics Will Admit He Didn’t Embezzle Funds As President —Akpabio
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday led the tributes during a special Federal Executive Council Meeting held in honour of former President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
Buhari, who died in a London hospital on Sunday, was buried in Daura on Tuesday, with President Tinubu in attendance.
The special FEC meeting was attended by the leadership of the National Assembly, members of the Federal Executive Council, the leadership of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and Buhari’s children, among other government officials.
In his tribute, Tinubu said that the former president led the country with restraint, governed with dignity, and bore the burdens of leadership without complaint.
The President hailed his predecessor as “first among soldiers in war, first among citizens in peace, and first, without ambition or flattery, in the hearts of his fellow citizens”.
“Yet it was in the quiet and unadorned settings of his private life that his true greatness was revealed: pious without show, just without cruelty, humane without sentimentality, temperate without coldness, and sincere without guile.
“Steady in posture and spirit, dignified in bearing, and commanding by his very presence, his example guided all who encountered him. Still, it endures.
He noted that to his peers, Buhari was respectful and without pretence, and to those who served under him, he was kind without condescension.
“And, to those whom he loved most intimately, he was unfailingly tender, loyal, and good. His life was a rebuke to vice and a refuge for virtue. The purity of his private character gave radiance to the discipline and integrity of his public service,” he said.
The President added, “Even in death, he maintained the serenity that defined him in life: not a sigh, not a groan, just a quiet submission to the will of God. Such was the man Nigeria has lost. Such was the man for whom our nation now mourns.
“President Buhari’s life was one of austere honour. He stood, always, ramrod straight; unmoved by the temptation of power, unseduced by applause and unafraid of the loneliness that often visits those who do what is right, rather than what is popular. His was a quiet courage, a righteousness that never announced itself. His patriotism was lived more in action than in words.
“His life traced the arc of Nigeria’s journey. Born before independence, he became a young soldier in the struggle to keep our nation whole. In war and in peace, he served with vigilance and determination, as if the task of watching over Nigeria had been assigned to him alone.”
Tinubu thanked the Inter-Ministerial Committee, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and Governor Dikko Radda, for organising a befitting state funeral for the former president within 48 hours.
He, once again, extended his heartfelt condolences to Aisha Buhari, her children, the entire Buhari family, the government and people of Katsina State, and all who knew and loved the former president.
“Our gratitude will remain with President Buhari’s family members who provided him with the comfort and strength to serve our nation in various capacities throughout his over 50 years of public service. We honour his service, reflect on his legacy, and pray for the peaceful repose of his soul,” Tinubu added.
Tinubu renames University of Maiduguri after Buhari
President Tinubu has renamed University of Maiduguri as Muhammadu Buhari University to honour his late predecessor.
Tinubu announced the honour on Thursday at the session of tributes of the special federal executive council (FEC) meeting convened for the late former president.
In an emotional tribute, the president described Buhari as “a good man, a decent man, an honourable man,” acknowledging that while no leader is perfect, the former president embodied values that will not be forgotten.
“His record will be debated, as all legacies are, but the character he brought to public life, the moral force he carried, and the incorruptible standard he represented will not be forgotten,” Tinubu said.
“His was a life lived in full service to Nigeria and in fidelity to God. Now, he rests. And we who remain must carry the memory of his life as a standard to guide us,” he added.
Tinubu called on leaders to honour Buhari’s memory not just with words, but with humility in power, discipline in service, compassion in governance, and fearlessness in the pursuit of justice.
Reflecting on their political journey, Tinubu said Buhari’s belief in democracy at a time many Nigerians had lost hope stood out as his most enduring legacy.
“We stood together, he and I,” Tinubu said. “Alongside others drawn from across the political spectrum, regions, and tongues, we formed an alliance that enabled Nigeria to experience its first true democratic transfer of power from one ruling party to another.”
He described Buhari’s leadership style as marked by “restraint and dignity” and noted that he bore the burdens of office “without complaint.”
Buhari’s Critics Will Admit He Didn’t Embezzle Funds As President —Akpabio
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has extolled former President Muhammadu Buhari as a leader who served Nigeria without mismanaging the nation’s treasury.
Akpabio, who stated this at an expanded Federal Executive Council meeting in honour of Buhari in Abuja on Thursday, said even the former president’s critics would agree that he did not embezzle public funds while in office.
He said, “And let us be honest, he was tough. He was a soldier who did not flinch under fire, a leader who did not flee from responsibility, and above all, a Nigerian whose loyalty to this nation was never up for sale.
“His toughness was born not out of pride but of a patriotism, a fierce, unrelenting belief that Nigeria, with all its challenges, was still worth fighting for. And yet some disagree with him.
“That is the nature of democracy. But even his fiercest critics will admit that he did not pilfer the nation’s boss, nor pander to its pleasures to the very end.
The special FEC meeting was attended by the leadership of the National Assembly, ministers, governors, and the children of the former leader, led by his son, Yusuf.
Akpabio further stated that Buhari sought duty when others sought glory.
He also described the former president as a leader who did not flee from challenges.
“President Buhari did not merely pass through the corridors of power; he left his boots and imprints in them. He believed that discipline mattered, that integrity mattered, that leadership, even when lonely, must be anchored on something greater than power,” he added.
Buhari, a former military head of state, served as a civilian president for eight years from 2015 to 2023.
He died on Sunday at a clinic in London at the age of 82.
His remains were brought back to Nigeria on Tuesday and received by President Bola Tinubu at the Katsina Airport.
President Bola Tinubu receiving the body of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Katsina airport on Tuesday, July 15, 2025
His body was later buried during a state funeral at his residence in Daura and was well-attended by top government officials, political associates, and family members of the former president, as well as residents of the area.
