President Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the burial of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, in order not to cause uncomfortable road closure to members of the public, says the Presidency.

The COAS died a in plane crash along with 10 other officers in Kaduna last Friday, and they were buried at the National Military Cemetery the following day.

Neither President Buhari nor Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo attended the event, raising consternation among some Nigerians who accused the President of not showing enough empathy.

However, featuring on an AriseNews TV programme, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the President was absent at the burial, in order not to cause discomfort that would have resulted from presidential road movement closure.

Answering questions on the issue,
Shehu drew analogy with President Buhari’s preference to observe his weekly Juma’at prayer at the Aso Rock Villa mosque instead of the National Mosque located at the Central Area of the capital city, in order to avoid closing of roads for presidential convoy passage.

According to him, “I have not spoken to the President on this (absence from COAS burial) but the president is someone who is concerned about the safety and well-being of ordinary Nigerians on the street.

“Do you know why he prays his Jumaat prayer in the State House? He doesn’t like going to the National Mosque because he doesn’t like this idea of closing the roads, security men molesting innocent 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.

“It is a mourning situation and the President didn’t want to take attention away from that.”