Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed a deeply personal episode from Nigeria’s presidential history, disclosing that her late husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, briefly believed rumours within the Presidential Villa that she intended to poison him.
The revelation is contained in a newly released 600-page biography titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, written by Dr. Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday.
According to Mrs. Buhari, the gossip and fearmongering had serious consequences for the former president’s health, particularly in the period leading up to his prolonged medical leave in 2017, when he spent 154 days in the United Kingdom receiving treatment.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quotes her as saying.
She disclosed that Buhari believed the claims for a short period, during which he began locking his room, altered his daily habits, and—most critically—disrupted his nutrition.
“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said. “He started locking his room. Meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped.”
Mrs. Buhari explained that she had personally overseen Buhari’s diet and supplements for years, carefully managing his nutrition to support his health. Once that routine was interrupted, his condition deteriorated.
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.
She firmly dismissed long-standing public speculation that Buhari’s illness was due to poisoning or some mysterious condition, insisting instead that it stemmed from poor nutrition and disrupted care.
According to her account, Buhari’s health improved rapidly once proper dietary management resumed in London. She said he recovered so quickly that he abandoned his walking stick just three days after restarting his supplements.
The biography also sheds light on deep mistrust within the Presidential Villa during Buhari’s tenure, including allegations of internal surveillance and the widely circulated but debunked “Jibril of Sudan” body double conspiracy theory.
Spanning 22 chapters, the book chronicles Buhari’s life journey from his childhood in Daura, Katsina State, through his military career, presidency, and eventual death in a London hospital in July 2025 at the age of 82.
The revelations have sparked renewed conversation about power, paranoia, and the hidden human cost of leadership at the highest level of government.
