Remembering Baba: Buhari’s Aides Announce First Anniversary Gathering
The memory of Muhammadu Buhari will return to the centre of national attention next week as family members, former aides and political associates prepare to gather in solemn prayer, marking exactly one year since the former president passed away.
A former presidential media aide, Bashir Ahmad, disclosed on Tuesday that a prayer and remembrance gathering would hold on Monday, July 13, to honour Buhari’s life and his years of service to the country. In a statement posted on his official X account, Ahmad wrote, “On Monday, July 13th, we will gather in solemn remembrance to honour the life, legacy and enduring service of our late boss, former President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, one year after his passing.”
Ahmad, who served as digital communications aide to the late president, described his former principal as a leader who gave his life to the service of Nigeria with “commitment, integrity, discipline and patriotism,” saying his contributions to national development would remain part of the country’s history. He added that family, friends, associates and ordinary Nigerians would come together in reflection while praying for Allah to forgive Buhari’s shortcomings, grant him Al-Jannah Firdaus, and comfort his loved ones and the nation. “May Allah grant him eternal rest. Ameen,” the statement concluded.
The remembrance is part of a wider programme of activities being coordinated by a Central Planning Committee. Its chairman and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, told journalists at a briefing in Abuja that the July 13 memorial would bring together the late president’s family, friends, associates, government officials and well-wishers to offer prayers for the repose of his soul. According to Mustapha, the programme will be principally interfaith and interdenominational, in keeping with the ideals of unity, faith and national cohesion that defined Buhari’s years in public life. Religious leaders drawn from various faiths are expected to lead the prayers, while a select number of individuals who worked closely with the late president are billed to speak about his legacy.
Mustapha also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu, as Special Guest of Honour, is expected to present a book of tributes titled “Tributes and Condolences in Honour of Muhammadu Buhari” to the public during the event.
Buhari died on July 13, 2025, at the age of 82, in a clinic in London, following a prolonged illness. His remains were later flown home and he was buried in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State, in accordance with Islamic rites, at a funeral that drew serving and former public officials from across the country.
His political story remains one of the more remarkable in Nigeria’s democratic era. Buhari served as the country’s democratically elected leader from May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023, having made history as the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president at the polls when he unseated Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election. He was re-elected in 2019 and completed his second term in 2023, handing over to Tinubu.
That electoral victory came after a long and persistent pursuit of the presidency. Buhari had contested and lost in 2003, 2007 and 2011 before finally prevailing at his fourth attempt, running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress. His public life stretched back much further still, to his years as a military head of state between 1983 and 1985, a period he was often reminded of and one that shaped the austere, disciplinarian image that followed him throughout his civilian career.
His eight years in office were defined by his own emphasis on anti-corruption, security and infrastructure, though his tenure also drew criticism over the state of the economy and the country’s security challenges, debates that have continued in the year since his death.
For those who worked alongside him, the coming days offer a moment for reflection rather than reckoning. The planned gathering, one year on, is expected to give family, former aides, political allies and supporters an opportunity to pause, pray and revisit the legacy of a man whose place in Nigeria’s political history remains firmly settled.