Days after the burial ceremony of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and ten others who were victims of plane crash in Kaduna airport on Friday, in which President Muhammadu Buhari was absent, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the president didn’t like creating traffic.
Buhari has been under heavy criticism for not attending the burial on ceremony last Saturday.
Speaking on Arise Television on Wednesday, Garba Shehu said Buhari wouldn’t want road close down for him to pass, hence, there was no need for him to attend the military cementary which is located at the airport road.
The spokesman however,
admitted that he has not discussed the issue with Buhari, while he cited the instance of the president observing Juma’at at Aso Rock in order to avoid closure of roads.
“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,” Garba Shehu said.
“Do you know why he now prays his Juma’at in the state house 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.”
But earlier on Monday, Lauretta Onochie in her tweet explained that President doesn’t attend a function that is less than 48 hours for security reasons.
Her tweet reads:
Lauretta Onochie, a media aide to President Buhari, in a tweet on Monday, said, ”WHY PRES @MBuhari DID NOT ATTEND THE FUNERAL FOR OUR LATE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF AND THE OTHER HEROES WHO DIED IN AN AIRCRASH.
“For a Nigerian President to be at any funeral or event outside the Villa, the event must have at least 48 hours.”
