Top Nigerian President's Aide, Bauchi Gov Test Positive for COVID-19

President Muhammadu Buhari influential chief of staff, Abba Kyari, has tested positive for coronavirus, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Kyari, who is in his 70s, is an important figure in President Buhari's government and his illness could have ramifications for the running of the country.

His case was one of a growing number in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, with a state governor also testing positive and the Lagos State Health Commissioner warning that they were beginning to see the virus "spread in the community".

Previously, most cases were travellers who had recently returned from the United Kingdom or the United States.

Kyari has a history of medical complications, including diabetes, and is the gatekeeper to the president. Many who wish to deal with Buhari must go through Kyari, including Nigeria's top politicians and businessmen.

An Associate Fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House, Matthew Page, described Kyari as the "lynchpin" of the Buhari government. 

According to him, "This has the potential to further slow down decision-making within top tiers of the Nigerian Government" 

Kyari travelled to Germany in early March with a delegation of other Nigerian officials for meetings with engineering and industrial giant Siemens AG. It is unclear if he self-isolated upon his return to Nigeria. Germany has reported some 27,000 cases of coronavirus and 114 deaths from the pandemic.

A presidency spokesman did not comment on whether Buhari has been tested. The president, 77, has undisclosed medical ailments and spent five months in London for treatments in 2017.

Later on Tuesday, a Bauchi state government spokesman said Governor Bala Mohammed had also been diagnosed with coronavirus and was in quarantine.

As of Tuesday, Nigeria had 42 confirmed cases of coronavirus, two of whom had recovered, and one death - a 67-year-old former oil official. It was unclear if Kyari or Mohammed's diagnoses were included in that total.

The Nigeria Stock Exchange said its trading floors would close temporarily, only allowing remote trading.

Lagos state Commissioner for Health Professor Akin Abayomi warned that hundreds of Africa's top film stars could have been exposed to coronavirus at the African Magic Viewers' Choice Award on March 14.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, announced that all parks, gyms and public markets in the commercial capital, apart from those selling food, water, medicine or "other essential life-saving products", would close on Thursday for at least seven days.

He stopped short, however, of calling for a total lockdown, citing the many among Lagos's 20 million residents who could not afford to stock up on essential items.

"We know what our poverty line is, and I'm a very realistic leader," he said. "We need to be considerate of that."

Meanwhile, the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, has tested positive to coronavirus (COVID-19).

The governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mukhtar Gidado, announced this in a statement on Tuesday.

This comes a day after the governor took the test after he had contact with the son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, was confirmed to have been infected with the virus.