Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has recounted how rumours within Aso Rock that she planned to kill her husband led the late President Muhammadu Buhari to begin locking his room, a development she said disrupted his care and contributed to his health crisis.
She also disclosed that the illness which forced Buhari to take a cumulative 154 days of medical leave in 2017 stemmed from a breakdown in his feeding routine and poorly managed nutrition, not poisoning or any mysterious ailment.
Mrs Buhari insisted that her husband’s condition was neither sudden nor sinister, but the result of neglecting a carefully maintained regimen that had sustained him for years.
Her account is contained in a new 600-page biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, written by Dr Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday.
The 22-chapter book traces Buhari’s life from his childhood in Daura, Katsina State, to his final moments in a London hospital in mid-July 2025.
According to the biography, Mrs Buhari had long supervised her husband’s meals and supplements at fixed times, a routine she said helped “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms” remain strong.
“Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” she was quoted as saying, adding: “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule.”
The book states that Buhari’s 2017 health crisis did not begin as a covert plot or unexplained disease, but with the loss of what Mrs Buhari described as “my nutrition” — a pattern of meals and supplements she managed in Kaduna before their move to Aso Villa.
She reportedly convened a meeting with key aides, including his physician, Dr Suhayb Rafindadi; the Chief Security Officer, Bashir Abubakar; the housekeeper; and the Director-General of the State Security Service to outline the feeding plan.
She explained that the routine involved daily, timed meals with customised vitamin powders, oils, measured protein intake and adjusted cereals.
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Omole wrote that when the full machinery of the Presidency took over their private lives, Mrs Buhari reiterated the importance of the regimen, stressing that consistency was critical for ageing bodies.
However, the routine soon collapsed.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quoted her as saying.
She said Buhari believed the rumours briefly and began locking his room, altering habits and, most critically, missing meals as supplements were discontinued.
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she said.
The decline culminated in two extended medical trips to the United Kingdom in 2017, totalling 154 days, during which Buhari formally handed over power to then Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
On his return, Buhari admitted he had “never been so ill” and confirmed receiving blood transfusions.
Omole noted that the President’s prolonged absence fuelled rumours, speculation and conspiracy theories nationwide.
Mrs Buhari dismissed claims that her husband was poisoned, maintaining that the real cause was the loss of a disciplined nutrition routine.
In London, doctors reportedly prescribed a more intensive supplement regimen.
The book said Buhari was initially fearful and reluctant to take the supplements, prompting Mrs Buhari to personally ensure compliance by mixing hospital-issued supplements into his juice and oats.
She described the recovery as rapid, noting that within days he abandoned his walking stick and soon resumed receiving visitors.
“That,” she said, “was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness,” according to the book.
Omole acknowledged criticism that Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals highlighted systemic failures in Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
However, he argued that a more compassionate view recognises that a man in his 70s may require specialised care not readily available locally after decades of underinvestment.
He also highlighted Buhari’s practice of formally transferring authority during medical absences, describing it as evidence of respect for institutional order even amid personal health challenges.
The biography further revealed an atmosphere of deep mistrust around the Presidency.
Mrs Buhari alleged that the President’s office was bugged, with private conversations monitored and replayed, claiming that fear and guilt “contributed to taking his life.”
She also dismissed the long-standing rumour that Buhari had a body double, popularly known as “Jibril of Sudan,” blaming weak strategic communication for allowing ordinary developments to spiral into far-reaching conspiracy theories.
