Following the heavy backlashes that came at President Buhari and VP Osinbajo, the Presidency has given reason why President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t attend the funeral ceremony of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 others in Abuja.
Lt. General Ibrahim, the Chief of Army Staff of Nigeria and 10 other military officers perished in a plane crash that occurred at the Kaduna International Airport.
The 11 deceased officers were laid to rest on Saturday, May 22 at the Air Force Protestant Church at the Air Force base in Abuja for the Christian officers and the National Mosque in Abuja for the Muslim officers.
The event which saw the absence of the President, his Vice and other high profile politicians including governors evoked several mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media.
In reaction, the Presidency has come out to address the issue.
According to the Presidency, Mr Buhari needed not less than 48 hours clearance before he would depart Presidential Villa to any event.
Presidential spokesperson, Lauretta Onochie revealed this on her social media page.
She wrote:
“For a President to be at any funeral or event outside the Presidential Villa, the event must have at least 48 hours for intelligence operatives to do surveillance and clearance before the President can go based on the Security report.”
“In a case where the COAS and his team died yesterday and had to be buried today, you don’t expect the President to go there where there is no security clearance.”
“The minimum time of 48 hours wasn’t met. In insecurity parlance, funeral ceremonies are where politically exposed persons face more risks.”
