Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has weighed in on the national reaction trailing the burial of former President Muhammadu Buhari—highlighting how President Bola Tinubu went above and beyond in paying respect to his late predecessor.
In a heartfelt post on X (formerly Twitter), Sani noted that Tinubu showed a kind of honour to Buhari that even the late President never extended to others during his lifetime. “The President physically attended the burial of Buhari, met with his family, declared a public holiday, held a FEC meeting in his honor and renamed a university to immortalise him,” Sani wrote. “Something even the late President never did to others.”
His comment was a clear pushback against criticisms that Tinubu was using Buhari’s death to score political points. “And yet they said he is ‘exploiting the death of Buhari.’ What would they have said if he had done none of the above? Politics is something else,” he added.
The post has since gone viral, drawing in thousands of reactions from Nigerians who either commended Tinubu’s show of respect or echoed concerns about politicising national tragedies.
Shehu Sani’s remarks came in the middle of a media back-and-forth sparked by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which had earlier accused the Tinubu administration of leveraging Buhari’s death to burnish its public image. But the Presidency was swift to respond.
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, dismissed ADC’s accusations as “an opportunistic exercise in manufactured outrage.”
According to Dare, “It is ironic that the same group accusing the President of politicising Buhari’s death are the ones dancing on his grave for clout. Their press release is not only dishonest, but also an insult to millions of Nigerians who genuinely mourned the loss of a statesman.”
He emphasized that the State Burial was conducted with dignity, attended by global dignitaries and followed by millions across the country.
“This is not about cheap popularity,” Dare said. “President Tinubu is letting his growing record of achievements speak for itself—louder than the noise coming from the sidelines.”
In the end, as the dust settles, one thing is clear: Tinubu’s handling of Buhari’s passing has sparked a national conversation—not just about legacy and honour, but about how political gestures are interpreted in today’s Nigeria.
