Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has said her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, once believed rumours within the Presidential Villa that she was plotting to kill him, a development she said disrupted his feeding routine and worsened his health.
Her account is contained in a newly released biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday, December 15.
In excerpts from the 600-page book, Aisha Buhari narrated how malicious gossip and fear mongering within Aso Rock created a climate of mistrust that affected the former president’s daily habits.
“Then came the gossip and the fear mongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quotes her as saying, adding that Buhari believed the claim “for a week or so.”
She said the suspicion led Buhari to lock his room and alter his routine, with serious consequences for his nutrition and overall wellbeing.
Aisha Buhari linked the prolonged health crisis that kept Buhari away from office for months in 2017 to a breakdown in his feeding and supplement regimen, rather than poisoning or any mysterious illness.
Before moving into the Presidential Villa, she said she personally supervised Buhari’s meals and supplements, a routine she described as crucial in managing long-standing malnutrition symptoms.
“Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support. He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule,” she recalled telling aides.
The book states that after Buhari settled into Aso Rock, the routine collapsed. Meals were delayed or skipped, supplements were stopped, and his nutrition was poorly managed.
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” Aisha Buhari said, noting that the disruption worsened his condition.
She recounted convening a meeting with senior aides, including the presidential physician, the Chief Security Officer, the housekeeper and the Director-General of the Department of State Services, to explain the nutrition plan Buhari required.
The regimen, she said, involved carefully timed meals and supplements, including vitamin powders, oils, cereals and measured protein intake.
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The biography also revisits Buhari’s multiple medical trips to the United Kingdom during his presidency.
In February 2016, he travelled for a six-day vacation. In June of that year, he returned for treatment of an ear infection, extending the trip to recuperate.
In January 2017, Buhari again travelled to London for medical care and later requested an extension of his stay from the National Assembly. He returned to Nigeria on March 10 after spending about 50 days abroad.
In May 2017, he embarked on what became one of his longest medical absences, spending 104 days in London before returning.
The prolonged stay fuelled widespread speculation and misinformation about his health, including claims that he had died and been replaced by a body double known as “Jubril of Sudan.”
Aisha Buhari dismissed the body double narrative as absurd, blaming poor communication by the government for allowing conspiracy theories to spread.
The book recounts that in London, doctors placed Buhari on a more intensive nutrition plan. Initially reluctant, he later complied after his wife took charge of his care.
She was said to have discreetly mixed hospital-issued supplements into his meals, including juice and oats.
The response, she said, was swift.
“After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives,” she said, describing the moment as both the beginning and reversal of his illness.
Aisha Buhari also rejected long-standing claims that Buhari was poisoned, insisting that his health challenges stemmed from the loss of a structured nutrition routine.
The biography further paints a picture of deep mistrust within the Presidency, which, it suggests, affected not only governance but the personal wellbeing of the former leader, who died in a London hospital in July 2025.
ICiR Nigeria
