By BASHIR ADEFAKA
A statement sent to The DEFENDER, signed by Mallam Garba Shehu, President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, has it that the principal has now arrived in Makkah, the core centre of all Hajj (major or lesser) rites.
The President is in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on an eight-day official visit, his last as President of Nigeria, that will also see him perform Umrah before returning to Nigeria.
LESSER HAJJ: President Muhammadu Buhari and his delegation performed Umrah (lesser Hajj) last night at the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. May Almighty Allah accept our prayers, Ameen! PHOTO/Capition: Bashir Ahmad.
According to Garba Shehu, President Buhari performed Umrah rituals, amid tight security, upon his arrival at the Grand Mosque in Makkah in the early hours of Thursday.
The President was received by a number of officials, including a delegation from the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and Nigerian Embassy staff.
“A day earlier in the second Holy City of Madina, President Buhari had also visited and prayed at the Prophet’s Mosque.
“He arrived in the Kingdom on an eight-day official visit on Tuesday,” Shehu said in the statement dated April 13, 2023.
