Aisha Buhari, former first lady, says the health crisis that kept late President Muhammadu Buhari, her husband, away from office for 154 days in 2017 began with a disruption of his feeding routine and poor nutritional management.
Her account is contained in a new biography, From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, written by Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday.
The 600-page book traced Buhari’s life from his childhood in Daura, Katsina state, to his final days at a London hospital in mid-July 2025.
The former first lady maintained that the illness was neither mysterious nor the result of poisoning, but a gradual breakdown caused by missed meals and abandoned supplements.
According to the author, the ex-first lady had for years personally overseen her husband’s meals and supplements at fixed times to sustain what she described as “a slender man with a long history of malnutrition symptoms”.
“Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” she recalled, adding, “he doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule.”
The book stated that, according to Aisha Buhari, the 2017 health crisis began with the loss of a routine she called “my nutrition”, a carefully managed pattern of meals and supplements she had supervised before they moved into Aso Villa.
She reportedly convened a meeting involving trusted aides, including Suhayb Rafindadi, physician; Bashir Abubakar, CSO; the housekeeper; and the SSS DG to outline the feeding plan.
“Daily, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oils, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there,” she said.
Omole wrote that when presidential life overtook their private routine, she reiterated the same plan, stressing again that “elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support”.
The arrangement, however, collapsed amid suspicion and rumours within the Presidential Villa.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quoted her as saying.
She said Buhari believed the claims briefly, began locking his room and altering his habits, and that “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped”.
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.
The deterioration eventually led to Buhari’s prolonged medical stays in the United Kingdom in 2017, during which he temporarily transferred power to Yemi Osinbajo, former vice president.
After his return, Buhari publicly admitted that he had been “never so ill” and had received blood transfusions.
Omole noted that Buhari’s prolonged absence fuelled widespread rumours, speculation and conspiracy theories.
The former first lady dismissed allegations that there was any plot to poison her husband, insisting that the crisis stemmed solely from the loss of his nutritional routine.
The author explained that doctors in London prescribed a more intensive supplement programme to stabilise the former president.
The book stated that Buhari was initially fearful and avoided taking the supplements, prompting his wife to discreetly administer them in his juice and oats.
She described the recovery as rapid, saying, “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 book stated.
Omole wrote that while critics viewed Buhari’s reliance on foreign hospitals as an indictment of Nigeria’s health system, a more sympathetic view recognised the limits of care available after decades of underinvestment.
He added that Buhari’s consistent delegation of power during medical absences preserved “institutional propriety, even during personal health crises”.
The book further alleged a climate of mistrust within the presidency, with the wife claiming the president’s office was bugged and private conversations replayed.
She said fear and conscience “contributed to taking his life”.
The ex-first lady also rejected the long-standing claim that Buhari had a body double known as “Jibril of Sudan”, describing it as absurd and blaming weak government communication for allowing conspiracy theories to thrive.