First lady Aisha Buhari has shared photos of some members of her family in celebration of her husband President Muhammadu Buhari’s return from his eight-day trip to Saudi Arabia.
President Buhari on Wednesday evening returned to Abuja, after his eight-day official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he also performed the Umrah (Lesser Hajj).
The presidential aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 5:08 pm, after nearly seven hours for a four to five-hour Jeddah-Abuja flight due to the ongoing crisis in Sudan that warrants the avoidance of the country’s entire airspace by air traffic.
Sudan’s civil aviation authority had notified that airspace over the country was closed, with a suspension of air navigation services within the Khartoum flight information region. The violent encounter between warring parties in the country began on April 15.
According to a statement issued by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, “The rerouted aircraft flew from Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic, Cameroon and eventually Nigeria.”
Upon his safe arrival in Abuja, the president was received at the presidential wing of the airport by top government officials including the chief of staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari; deputy inspector general of police, Danmallam Mohammed, representing the inspector general of police; and the director general, Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi.
In her Instagram post on Wednesday night, Mrs Buhari thanked Allah for the safe return of her husband.
“Thanks be to God Baba has returned safely,” she wrote in Hausa.
