…as FEC holds solemn tribute to late former president

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has renamed the University of Maiduguri as Muhammadu Buhari University, in honour of the late former President who passed away on July 13, 2025.

The announcement was made on Thursday during a special Federal Executive Council (FEC) session held in Abuja, where cabinet members, top government officials, and family of the deceased gathered to pay tribute to Nigeria’s eighth president.

Describing Buhari as a \"fearless defender of Nigeria’s unity\" and a \"symbol of discipline and patriotism\", Tinubu said the legacy of the late leader would echo through generations.

\"His was a quiet courage, a righteousness that never announced itself,\" Tinubu said. “President Buhari’s life was one of austere honour… unmoved by the temptation of power and unseduced by applause.”

The President praised Buhari\'s moral integrity, humility, and incorruptibility, adding that while no leader is perfect, Buhari was “in every sense of the word, a good man, a decent man, an honourable man.”

In a poignant moment, Tinubu revealed that it was Buhari’s support that helped consolidate the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the 2022 primaries. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, read from a letter Buhari wrote to the APC Governors’ Forum, rallying them to support Tinubu’s candidacy.

\"Our candidate… is no stranger to you. He is our friend and brother… I look forward to working closely with APC Governors to support Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all our APC candidates to success in 2023,\" Buhari had written.

Also speaking, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described Buhari as a principled leader whose simplicity and moral values remained unwavering throughout his career.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, hailed Buhari’s \"quiet strength and moral clarity\", while Governors\' Forum Chair and Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, called him a “patriot and devoted servant of the Nigerian people.”

Ministers Dele Alake, Festus Keyamo, Dave Umahi, Imaan Suliaman-Ibrahim, Ali Pate, and Head of the Civil Service, Didi Walson-Jack, all joined in paying glowing tributes.

Representing the family, Buhari’s son, Yusuf Buhari, thanked President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and Nigerians for their outpouring of love and support, saying his father was “regarded as more than a politician, a friend and a father to all.”

The late Muhammadu Buhari, a civil war veteran, former military Head of State and two-term civilian president, was 82.