Former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has revealed that late President Muhammadu Buhari once feared for his life after hearing gossip in Aso Rock suggesting that she had plotted to kill him.
Speaking in a new 600-page biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Dr. Charles Omole, Mrs. Buhari also said that her husband’s prolonged medical leave in 2017 stemmed from mismanaged nutrition and disrupted routines, not poisoning or mysterious illness.
“The health crisis began with the loss of his daily feeding routine and supplements, which I had long supervised,” she said.
“Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support. He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule.”
The biography, launched at the State House on Monday, details Buhari’s life from his early years in Daura, Katsina State, to his final days in a London hospital in mid-July 2025.
Mrs. Buhari described how the former president began locking his room and altering habits after rumors spread about a supposed assassination plot.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him. My husband believed them for a week or so,” she recalled.
She added that the mismanagement of meals and supplements during this period contributed to Buhari’s extended medical trips to the United Kingdom, totaling 154 days in 2017, during which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo took over presidential duties. “For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she said.
The former First Lady also refuted claims that Buhari had a body double, calling the rumors absurd.
She argued that poor communication within the government allowed ordinary events to spiral into conspiracy theories.
Mrs. Buhari emphasized her role in ensuring the former president’s recovery while abroad, stating, “After just three days, he threw away the stick he was walking with. After a week, he was receiving relatives. That was the genesis, and also the reversal of his sickness.”
