The decision to bury the late former President Shehu Shagari in his modest private residence in Shagari town, Sokoto State was in accordance to his will.
His eldest son, Bala Shagari, who stated this while speaking with journalists in Sokoto on Sunday, also said there was no last word from the late ex-President because he had stopped talking long time ago due to poor health.
The Second Republic and first Executive President of Nigeria died on December 28 at the National Hospital in Abuja at the age of 93. He was buried on Saturday.
Bala explained why his father was buried at his (ex-President) private residence as against popular expectation that the corpse would be buried at the Hubbare cemetery.
Hubbare cemetery was where the remains of the late Jihadist, Usman Dan Fodio, were buried and had always been the exclusive cemetery for the late Sultans and departed members of the Sultanate Council. The late Shagari was the Turaki Sokoto, a ranked member of the Sultanate Council.
Bala stated, “Although there was an offer from the Sultan that the remains of the late President should be buried at the Hubbare cemetery, his will must be respected.
“He willed to be buried beside his son, the late Abdulrahman, at his Shagari residence which was carried out yesterday. There was no last word from him as he had stopped talking for a long time due to poor health.”
He added that the late President died without having malice against anybody as he had forgiven all who offended him before his death.“He had forgiven everybody before his death and the only reason why he was not attending functions was because of his Ill-health as he hardly went out for some period.”