President Muhammadu Buhari will address Nigerians on Sunday by 7:00 p.m., his office has said, amidst criticisms by many Nigerians over his failure to address the country since the COVID-19 pandemic broke.

“President Muhammadu Buhari will broadcast to the nation Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 7pm.

“Television, radio and other electronic media outlets are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) respectively for the broadcast,” Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said in a mail sent to journalists.

Although the topic of the address was not stated in the brief message, Mr Buhari is expected to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts his government is taking to tackle it.

The decision to address Nigerians comes amidst criticisms by many Nigerians over the president’s refusal to address them since Nigeria recorded its first case of COVID-19 about a month ago.

Presidential aides had given various reasons for Mr Buhari’s refusal to address Nigerians. While information minister Lai Mohammed said it was not yet the ‘appropriate time’, Mr Adesina had said that was not Mr Buhari’s ‘style’ of addressing the crisis.

Sunday’s address will be the Nigerian president’s first since the coronavirus pandemic broke.

Nigeria now has 97 cases of the disease while one person has died.