Aisha Buhari, wife of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, has revealed that rumours claiming she planned to have him killed led her husband to alter his daily habits, including locking his room.
The former first lady shared her account in a 600-page biography titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Charles Omole, director-general of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research. The book was launched at the presidential villa in Abuja, with prominent figures, including President Bola Tinubu, in attendance.
According to Aisha, Buhari’s 2017 health crisis was not the result of a mysterious illness or poisoning but stemmed from a disrupted feeding routine and mismanaged nutrition. She had long overseen her husband’s meals and supplements, ensuring they were taken at specific hours—a regimen she said maintained his stability.
“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,” the book reads.
When they moved to the villa, she said she convened a meeting with close staff including Suhayb Rafindadi, the physician; Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer; the housekeeper, and the DSS DG to explain the plan. After some time, the plan was discontinued.
“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, I 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,” Aisha recounted in the book.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him. My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, adding 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.
Aisha denied any allegations of plotting against Buhari, emphasising that the disruption of his routine and nutrition was the true cause of his health decline.
Buhari spent over 150 days in the United Kingdom in 2017 for medical treatment, returning to Nigeria on August 19 after 103 days. He passed away in a London clinic on July 13, 2025.
Melissa Enoch
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