Aisha Buhari, widow of former President Muhammadu Buhari, has revealed that rumours circulating within the Aso Rock grapevine once led her husband to change his personal habits, including locking his room over fears that she intended to harm him.
According to her, the late president believed the gossip and became increasingly cautious, a development that altered some of his routines during his time in office.
Aisha Buhari made the disclosure in a new 600-page biography titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Charles Omole, Director-General of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research.
The book was unveiled at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at an event attended by several dignitaries and political leaders, including President Bola Tinubu.
In the biography, the former First Lady also addressed speculation surrounding Buhari’s prolonged health challenges in 2017, dismissing claims of poisoning or a mysterious illness.
She explained that the health crisis stemmed from disruptions to his feeding schedule and poorly managed nutritional habits.
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She noted that she had personally overseen Buhari’s diet and supplement intake at fixed intervals over the years, a routine she said was crucial to maintaining his health and stability.
“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, a pattern of meals and supplements she had long overseen in Kaduna before they moved into Aso Villa,” the book reads.
When they moved to the villa, she said she convened a meeting with close staff including Suhayb Rafindadi, the physician; Bashir Abubakar, the chief security officer; the housekeeper, and the DSS DG to explain the plan.
After some time, the routine was discontinued.
“When the Presidency’s machinery took over our private lives, I explained the plan: daily, at specific hours, cups and bowls with tailored vitamin powders and oil, a touch of protein here, a change to cereals there. Elderly bodies require gentle, consistent support,” Aisha was quoted as saying in the book.
“Then came the gossip and the fearmongering. They said I wanted to kill him.
“My husband believed them for a week or so,” she said, adding that the president began locking his room, changed small habits, and crucially, “meals were delayed or missed; the supplements were stopped”.
“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she added.
Aisha debunked stories of plans to poison her husband, stating that Buhari’s health began deteriorating because of “loss of a routine, ‘my nutrition,’ was the genesis of the crisis”.
