According to her, false stories spread in the Presidential Villa claimed she was planning to kill her late husband.
She said Buhari believed the rumours for a short time and became suspicious, even going as far as locking his room and changing his daily habits.
Aisha Buhari also explained that the serious illness that kept the president away from office for 154 days in 2017 was not caused by poison or any mysterious disease. Instead, she said it began when his strict feeding and nutrition routine was disrupted.
Her account is contained in a new biography titled “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari”, written by Dr. Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday.
The 600-page book covers Buhari’s life from his childhood in Daura, Katsina State, to his final days in a London hospital in July 2025.
In the book, Aisha Buhari said she had always personally managed her husband’s meals and supplements, following a strict schedule that helped him stay strong despite long-standing signs of malnutrition.
She stressed that older people need regular and careful nutritional support, noting that Buhari did not suffer from any chronic illness.
It read, “According to Aisha Buhari, her husband’s 2017 health crisis did not originate as a mysterious ailment or a covert plot. It started, she says, with the loss of a routine; ‘my nutrition,’ she describes it, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa.”
She said she held meetings with key staff, including the president’s doctor, security officials, and household staff, to explain the importance of the feeding plan, which included specific vitamins, oils, proteins, and cereals taken at set times each day.
She said, “Daily, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oils, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there.”
“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, she explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Omole narrated.
Despite this, the routine gradually fell apart.
Aisha Buhari said gossip and fear took over, with people claiming she wanted to harm her husband.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quotes her as saying.
“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, revealing that the President began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped.”
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.
His health continued to decline, eventually leading to two long medical trips to the United Kingdom in 2017, during which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo took over his duties.
After returning, Buhari reportedly admitted that he had never been so sick and had even needed blood transfusions.
The book notes that Buhari’s long absences led to widespread rumours and conspiracy theories.
Aisha Buhari firmly rejected claims that her husband was poisoned, insisting again that the real problem was the breakdown of his nutrition routine.
While in London, doctors placed Buhari on an even stronger supplement plan.
At first, she said Buhari “was frightened and not taking them as prescribed. So she took charge of his welfare, slipping hospital-issued supplements into his juice and oats.”
The former First Lady described the turnaround as swift, noting, “After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives.”
“‘That,’ she says, ‘was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness,’” the book stated.
The author also addressed criticism of Buhari’s frequent medical trips abroad, suggesting that specialised care for someone in their 70s may not always be available locally due to years of neglect in the health sector.
He praised Buhari for consistently handing over power to his deputy during his absence, saying it showed respect for due process.
The book further reveals deep mistrust within the presidency. Aisha Buhari claimed there was surveillance, including listening devices in the president’s office, and said fear and guilt among those around him played a role in worsening his condition.
She also dismissed the long-standing rumour that Buhari had a body double known as “Jibril of Sudan,” calling it nonsense.
According to her, poor communication by the government allowed harmless issues to grow into full-blown conspiracy theories.
KanyiDaily recalls that Farooq Kperogi, a U.S-based journalism professor and public commentator, claimed that Aisha Buhari was no longer married to Muhammadu Buhari at the time of his death.
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