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Chief of Staff· 2015 — 2020

Abba Kyari

Lawyer and former banker. The most powerful COS in Nigerian history. Died of COVID-19 on 17 April 2020.

The record

Abba Kyari (1938–2020), Cambridge-educated lawyer and former Editor of the New Africa magazine, was Executive Director of UBA before being appointed Chief of Staff to President Buhari on 27 August 2015. The COS office under Kyari was the de facto clearing house for ministerial and parastatal access to the President. Kyari was the first holder of the office to die in service. He died on 17 April 2020 from COVID-19 complications.

Methodology

Tier 1 · primary

Courts. Gazettes. National archives.

Tier 2 · corroborating

OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.

Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged

Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.