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.