A socio-political group, the One Destiny Organization (ODO), has expressed its condolence to the Presidency over the demise of Mallam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday after contracting the dreaded COVID-19 virus.

The late Chief of Staff was subsequently buried on Saturday in accordance with Islamic rites.

The National Coordinator of One Destiny Organization, Ohiri O. Lewis, in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, also extended the condolences of the organization to Kyari’s family, as well as the people and government of Borno State.

“It is with sadness and sense of loss that we received the shocking news of the death of Mallam Abba Kyari, the amiable Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

We deeply condole with Mr. President, the government of Federal Republic of Nigeria, the immediate and extended family of Mallam Abba Kyari, the good people and government of Borno State, where the departed Chief of Staff hails from, and prayed God/Allah to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss,” Ohiri said in the statement.

Describing the late Kyari as a patriot, pan-Nigerian, loyal and disciplined public servant that sacrificed and gave all including his life to the service of humanity and the nation, the group, which was in the vanguard of President Buhari’s reelection in 2019, acknowledged that Nigerians will never forget in a hurry the pivotal roles and selfless contributions of the deceased towards ensuring that President Buhari meets the aspirations and yearnings of the people since he assumed power in 2015.

“While we share the pains and sorrow of Mr. President and those that worked closely with the late Chief of Staff to the President, it is also our position that the contributions and services of Mallam Abba Kyari to his boss and the nation will ever remain indelible.

Nigerians will not forget in a hurry his humility, calmness, loyalty and experience he deployed while serving his boss and the nation,” the group also said.

It prayed that “the soul of the departed Chief of Staff be granted eternal rest in the bosom of the Lord/Allah.”