Abba Kyari CFR OON (23 September 1952 – 17 April 2020)^[2] was a Nigerian lawyer^[3] who served as Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria from August 2015 to April 2020.^[4]

Kyari was born on 23 September 1952, to a Shuwa Arab family from Borno. He was educated in St. Paul's College in Wusasa Zaria, and later considered joining the Nigerian Army following advice from Mamman Daura and Ibrahim Tahir.^[5] In 1976, he met General Muhammadu Buhari who was then Governor of Borno State.^[6]

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Warwick in 1980,^[7] and also obtained a law degree from the University of Cambridge.^[8] Kyari was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1983 after attending the Nigerian Law School.^[9] In 1984, he obtained a master's degree in law from the University of Cambridge.^[10] He later attended the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland,^[11] and in 1992 and 1994 participated in the Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development.^[12]

Kyari worked for the law firm Fani-Kayode and Sowemimo for some time after his return to Nigeria.^[13]

From 1988 to 1990, he was editor with the New Africa Holdings Limited Kaduna. He was a Commissioner for Forestry and Animal Resources in Borno State in the 1990s.^[14]

From 1990 to 1995, Kyari was the secretary to the board of the African International Bank Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Credit and Commerce International.^[14]

Kyari was an executive director in charge of management services at the United Bank for Africa, and was later appointed the chief executive officer. In 2002, he was appointed a board director of Unilever Nigeria, and later served on the board of Exxon Mobil Nigeria.^[12]

In August 2015, Kyari was appointed Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.^[15][16] As chief of staff, he was widely considered to be the face of the "cabal" and the most powerful person in the Buhari administration.^[17][18]

During the administration's first term, he worked mainly behind the scenes to implement the president's agenda.^[19] In 2019 with Buhari's re-election for a second term, he ordered his cabinet to channel all requests through Kyari's office^[20] — further enhancing his influence within government circles, and being labelled as the de facto head of government.^[21]

In 2017, following a leaked memo, Kyari became embroiled in a public argument with the Head of Civil Service,^[22] who was later removed from office and arrested.^[23][24] In 2020, in another leaked memo, Babagana Monguno the National Security Adviser accused Kyari of meddling in matters of national security.^[25]

Kyari was married to the sister-in-law of Ibrahim Tahir,^[26] and had four children, Aisha, Nurudeen, Ibrahim, Zainab.^[27][5]

On 24 March 2020, it was made public that he had tested positive for COVID-19, following an official trip to Germany nine days before.^[28] There were reports that he had been flown out of the country for treatment,^[29] and Reuters later reported he had "a history of medical complications, including diabetes".^[30]

On 29 March 2020, Kyari announced he was being moved from isolation in Abuja to Lagos for "preventive treatment".^[31] Kyari later died on the evening of 17 April 2020 at age 67. His death was a very huge blow to the nation.^[32] He was eulogised by The Economist as "a largely honourable man who went to the heart of a thoroughly corrupt and dysfunctional system, aiming to reform it—but who struggled to overcome its inertia amid a series of crises."^[33]