FORMER FIRST LADY AISHA BUHARI REVEALS HOW RUMORS OF ASSASSINATION PLOT AND BROKEN NUTRITION ROUTINE LED TO PRESIDENT’S HEALTH CRISIS

In a startling revelation, former First Lady Aisha Buhari has disclosed that late President Muhammadu Buhari once grew suspicious and fearful of her after rumors circulated within Aso Rock that she was plotting to kill him. This alleged suspicion led the President to begin locking his room. The account is detailed in a newly released 600-page biography, “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,” written by Dr. Charles Omole and unveiled at the State House on Monday.

According to the book, Mrs. Buhari also clarified that the prolonged illness which forced President Buhari into 154 days of medical leave in 2017 was not due to poisoning or a mysterious disease. Instead, she insisted it was triggered by disruptions to his long-established feeding routine and poor nutritional management. “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,” the biography states.

Mrs. Buhari explained that for years she had personally supervised the President’s meals and supplements at fixed intervals, a routine she said helped “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms” remain strong. “Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” she recalled telling aides, adding, “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule.”

She reportedly convened a meeting with key aides to outline the nutrition plan. “Daily, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oils, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there,” she explained. However, the routine soon collapsed amid a climate of mistrust. “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 revealed, noting that Buhari began locking his room, altered his daily habits, and most critically, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped.” She added, “For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals.”

This decline led to two lengthy medical visits to the United Kingdom in 2017. After his recovery, Buhari admitted he had “never been so ill” and disclosed receiving blood transfusions. While in London, doctors placed him on an intensified supplement regimen. Mrs. Buhari said the former President “was frightened and not taking them as prescribed. So she took charge of his welfare, slipping hospital-issued supplements into his juice and oats.” She described a rapid recovery: “After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives.” She concluded, “That was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness.”

The biography further paints a picture of deep mistrust within the Presidency, with Mrs. Buhari alleging that the President’s office was bugged and private conversations were recorded and replayed. She also dismissed long-standing rumors that Buhari had a body double, popularly referred to as “Jibril of Sudan,” describing the claims as absurd.

Author Charles Omole acknowledged criticism of Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals but argued for a “more compassionate perspective” given the need for specialised care. He also highlighted Buhari’s consistent practice of handing over power to his deputy during medical absences, which he said preserved “institutional propriety, even during personal health crises.”