Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has disclosed how rumours inside Aso Rock once pushed her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, into fear, mistrust and a health crisis that nearly cost him his life.
According to her, Buhari began locking his room after claims spread that she was plotting to kill him, a development that disrupted his feeding routine and triggered the illness that forced him to take a 154-day medical leave in 2017.
She revealed that Buhari’s sickness was neither mysterious nor the result of poisoning, but a consequence of missed meals and poorly managed nutrition.
Aisha Buhari’s account is contained in a newly released 600-page biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, written by Dr Charles Omole and launched on Monday at the State House.
The book traces Buhari’s journey from his early years in Daura, Katsina State, to his final days in a London hospital in mid-July 2025.
Mrs Buhari said she had long personally supervised her husband’s meals and supplements at fixed times, a routine she said kept “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms” healthy.
She stressed the importance of discipline in elderly care, recalling that she repeatedly warned aides: “Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” adding, “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule.”
The biography states that Buhari’s 2017 health crisis began after this routine collapsed when the family moved into Aso Villa.
To prevent issues, she convened a meeting with close aides, including the physician, Suhayb Rafindadi; the CSO, Bashir Abubakar; the housekeeper; and the SSS DG, to outline a strict feeding plan.
She explained, “Daily, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oils, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there.”
Omole narrated that once the Presidency took over their private lives, the routine began to fray.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quotes her as saying.
She added, “My husband believed them for a week or so,” revealing that Buhari started locking his room, changed daily habits, and that “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped.”
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she said.
The deterioration eventually led to Buhari undertaking two prolonged medical stays in the United Kingdom in 2017, totalling 154 days, during which he handed over presidential powers to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
After returning, Buhari admitted he had “never been so ill” and disclosed that he received blood transfusions during treatment.
Omole wrote that Buhari’s absence from Nigeria “sparked rumours, speculation, and even conspiracy theories.”
Mrs Buhari dismissed claims that her husband was poisoned, insisting the crisis was caused by the loss of routine, which she described as “my nutrition.”
In London, doctors prescribed a stronger supplement regimen. Initially, Buhari “was frightened and not taking them as prescribed,” prompting her to take charge by slipping hospital-issued supplements into his juice and oats.
She said the turnaround was dramatic: “After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives.”
“That,” she said, “was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness.”
The book also addresses criticism of Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals, noting that a man in his 70s may require specialised care “not readily available in Nigeria” after decades of underinvestment.
Omole further noted that Buhari’s consistent handover of power to his deputy during absences reflected institutional discipline.
The biography also exposes a climate of mistrust within the Presidency, with Mrs Buhari alleging surveillance, bugging of offices and playback of private conversations, saying fear and conscience “contributed to taking his life.”
She also dismissed the long-running rumour that Buhari had a body double known as “Jibril of Sudan,” blaming poor strategic communication for allowing ordinary events to spiral into conspiracy theories.
