Late formet President Muhammadu Buhari (left), and wife, Aisha
For Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s former First Lady, her husband could probably be alive today, were she fully in charge of managing his health instead of those who took charge at the Presidential Villa, that succeeded in convincing the late President that she was a threat to him.
Her narrative came in new book, where she detailed stories of intrigues within the Presidency leading to a situation, where the former President began locking his room following gossips that she planned to kill him.
Recalling the incident that occurred ahead of his ill-health, which saw the late President, spending a whole 153 days in the hospital in London, the widow, traced the health crisis to the same intrigues, which denied her access to her husband’s affairs, leading to a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutrition, she had earlier planned and supervised.
Dismissing the contention that Buhari’s illness was a mysterious or poisoning, she said in the new 600-page biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Charles Omole, a Lawyer, Security consultant, Trainer and Strategist to businesses and governments across Europe launched at the State House on Monday.
The 22-chapter book, which chronicles the late President’s early life in Daura, Katsina state, until his final hours in a London hospital in mid-July 2025, narrated how the First Lady, had long supervised her husband’s meals and supplements at specific hours, a regimen she said helped “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms” maintain strength.
Part of the book read: “Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” she recalled, adding, “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule. 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.”
Stating how the former First Lady convened a meeting with close staff, including the physician, Suhayb Rafindadi; the CSO, Bashir Abubakar; the housekeeper, and the SSS DG to explain the plan, it added: “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.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him. My husband believed them for a week or so. 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.”
The deterioration culminated in Buhari’s two extended medical trips to the United Kingdom, totalling 154 days in 2017, during which he ceded authority to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
“Upon return, he admitted to being ‘never so ill’ and having received blood transfusions. Buhari’s absences sparked rumours, speculation, and even conspiracy theories,” Omole wrote, adding that the former First Lady debunked stories of plots to poison her husband.
“Her contention is that loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis. In London, doctors prescribed an even stronger regimen of supplements. Initially, Buhari was frightened and did not take 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 author added: “Critics said Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals exposed the failure of Nigeria’s health system. A more compassionate perspective recognises that a man in his 70s may require specialised care not readily available in Nigeria after decades of underinvestment. Buhari’s habit of handing power to his deputy during absences, ensured institutional propriety, even during personal health crises.”
For Aisha Buhari, Nigeria’s former First Lady, her husband could probably be alive today, were she fully in charge of managing his health instead of those who took charge at the Presidential Villa, who succeeded in convincing the late President that she was a threat to him.
Her narrative came in a new book, where she detailed stories of intrigues within the Presidency, leading to a situation where the former President began locking his room following gossip that she planned to kill him.
Recalling the incident that occurred ahead of his ill-health, which saw the late President, spending a whole 153 days in the hospital in London, the widow traced the health crisis to the same intrigues, which denied her access to her husband’s affairs, leading to a broken feeding routine and mismanaged nutrition, she had earlier planned and supervised.
Dismissing the contention that Buhari’s illness was a mysterious or poisoning, she said in the new 600-page biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Charles Omole, a Lawyer, Security consultant, Trainer and Strategist to businesses and governments across Europe launched at the State House on Monday.
The 22-chapter book, which chronicles the late President’s early life in Daura, Katsina state, until his final hours in a London hospital in mid-July 2025, narrated how the First Lady, had long supervised her husband’s meals and supplements at specific hours, a regimen she said helped “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms” maintain strength.
Part of the book read: “Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” she recalled, adding, “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule. 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.”
Stating how the former First Lady convened a meeting with close staff, including the physician, Suhayb Rafindadi; the CSO, Bashir Abubakar; the housekeeper, and the SSS DG to explain the plan, it added: “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.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him. My husband believed them for a week or so. 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.”
The deterioration culminated in Buhari’s two extended medical trips to the United Kingdom, totalling 154 days in 2017, during which he ceded authority to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
“Upon return, he admitted to being ‘never so ill’ and having received blood transfusions. Buhari’s absences sparked rumours, speculation, and even conspiracy theories,” Omole wrote, adding that the former First Lady, debunked stories of plots to poison her husband.
“Her contention, is that loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis. In London, doctors prescribed an even stronger regimen of supplements. Initially, 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 author added: “Critics said Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals exposed the failure of Nigeria’s health system. A more compassionate perspective recognises that a man in his 70s may require specialised care not readily available in Nigeria after decades of underinvestment. Buhari’s habit of handing power to his deputy during absences ensured institutional propriety, even during personal health crises.”
The book also revealed a climate of mistrust around the Presidency, referring to how the First Lady, alleged to have surveillance, the bugging of the President’s office with listening devices and playback of private conversations, saying, fear and conscience “contributed to taking his life.”
She refuted the long-held rumour that Buhari had a body double, popularly known as “Jibril of Sudan,” as absurd, arguing that poor strategic communication in government allowed simple, banal developments to metastasise into conspiracies.
