Aisha Buhari Reveals How Rumours, Missed Meals Triggered Buhari’s 2017 Health Crisis

Aisha Buhari Reveals How Rumours, Missed Meals Triggered Buhari’s 2017 Health Crisis

Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed that rumours within Aso Rock alleging she planned to kill her husband led to a breakdown in trust that disrupted Muhammadu Buhari’s health routine, ultimately triggering the illness that kept the former president away from office for 154 days in 2017.

The revelations are contained in a new biography titled “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari”, written by Dr Charles Omole and unveiled on Monday at the State House, Abuja. The 600-page book traces Buhari’s life from Daura, Katsina State, to his final days in a London hospital in July 2025.

According to the book, Mrs Buhari said her husband began locking his room and avoiding her after rumours spread in the Villa that she intended to poison him. She explained that the fear caused Buhari to abandon a carefully managed feeding and supplement schedule she had long supervised, a disruption she described as the real cause of his illness.

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She dismissed claims that Buhari suffered from a strange ailment or was poisoned, insisting the crisis began with the loss of routine nutrition. “He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule,” she was quoted as saying, describing her husband as “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms.”

The book detailed how Aisha Buhari had previously coordinated Buhari’s meals, supplements and vitamins, even convening meetings with key aides including his physician, Suhayb Rafindadi, the Chief Security Officer, household staff and security chiefs to maintain strict dietary timing.

However, she said fear and gossip derailed the arrangement. “For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she claimed, adding that supplements were stopped and meals delayed after Buhari began believing the rumours.

Buhari’s deteriorating condition led to two extended medical trips to the United Kingdom in 2017, during which he handed over power to former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. On his return, Buhari publicly admitted he had “never been so ill” and had received blood transfusions.

Doctors in London reportedly prescribed stronger supplements, and the former First Lady said she personally ensured compliance, secretly mixing hospital-issued vitamins into his food. She described the recovery as swift, saying Buhari discarded his walking stick within days and began receiving visitors within a week.

Dr Omole noted that while critics viewed Buhari’s reliance on UK hospitals as evidence of Nigeria’s weak healthcare system, a more compassionate view recognised the need for specialised care for an elderly leader amid decades of underinvestment.

The book also exposed an atmosphere of deep mistrust in the presidency, with Mrs Buhari alleging surveillance, bugging of offices and playback of private conversations. She suggested that fear and suspicion “contributed to taking his life.”

She also dismissed long-standing rumours that Buhari had a body double, popularly known as “Jibril of Sudan”, blaming poor government communication for allowing conspiracy theories to thrive.

The biography paints a picture of a presidency marked by health challenges, internal distrust and intense speculation, offering fresh insight into one of the most controversial periods of Buhari’s time in office.

 

Aisha Buhari Reveals How Rumours, Missed Meals Triggered Buhari’s 2017 Health Crisis