Why we were barred from Aso Rock after attending Kyari’s burial- Garba Shehu

Yusuf Bello| The senior special assistant on media and publicity to the president, Garba Shehu on Sunday explained why presidential aides and officials who attended the burial of Abba Kyari, the late chief of staff to president Buhari were barred from Aso Rock.

According to media reports, some top government officials who attended the burial were denied access to the presidential villa on their return.

But in a tweet on Sunday, Shehu said there is nothing unusual about the move as it is in line with guidelines put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and health ministry officials.

She tweeted, “There is nothing extraordinary about those of us who attend Abba Kyari’s funeral being advised to distance ourselves from the Villa.”

“This is in line with the standard rules put in place by the National Center for Disease Control, @NCDCgov and the Federal Ministry of Health. You do these things to stop the spread of #Coronavirus.

“For the most part, the Villa has operated digitally in the last few weeks so there is really nothing new to this.”

Abba Kyari, the late chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, died of COVID-19 related complications on Friday and was buried on Saturday at Gudu Cemetry in Abuja according to Islamic rites.