Aisha Buhari opens up on the late president’s health struggles, revealing how disrupted nutrition, internal influence, and lost routines shaped his 2017 medical crisis.
Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has offered a deeply personal account of the health challenges faced by her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, attributing his prolonged medical struggles to years of nutritional imbalance rather than illness, poisoning, or conspiracy.
Her revelations form part of a new biographical work that sheds fresh light on the former leader’s time in office and the pressures surrounding his wellbeing.
The disclosures are contained in From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, a book authored by Dr. Charles Omole and unveiled at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
In excerpts from the publication, Aisha Buhari recounts how a disciplined dietary system she had managed for years collapsed after her husband assumed the presidency, triggering a gradual decline in his health.
According to her account, the former president had lived with symptoms associated with malnutrition long before moving into Aso Villa.
While Buhari was known for his modest eating habits and slim build, his wife explained that his strength had always depended on a strict nutritional routine involving supplements, vitamins, and carefully timed meals.
This routine, she said, was not optional but essential to sustaining his health, especially as he advanced in age.
Before the presidency, Aisha Buhari personally supervised this system, ensuring her husband received balanced nutrients through controlled portions and supplements.
However, she said the transition into the Presidential Villa altered everything.
The institutional nature of the presidency, combined with layers of security and protocol, gradually pushed her away from direct involvement in his daily care.
The book describes how she attempted to prevent this breakdown by holding a crucial meeting with members of Buhari’s inner domestic and security circle.
Those present reportedly included his personal physician, household staff, the Chief Security Officer, and senior security officials.
During the meeting, she laid out a detailed plan for maintaining her husband’s nutrition, stressing consistency and discipline.
She reportedly explained that the former president was not battling any chronic disease but required attentive care due to age-related vulnerability.
In her words, elderly bodies need steady nutritional support, as their immune systems no longer function with youthful resilience.
She detailed how supplements had helped stabilise Buhari’s health for many years and warned against disrupting the routine.
Despite this intervention, Aisha Buhari alleged that forces within the president’s close circle soon began undermining her role.
She claimed that rumours, fear-driven narratives, and whispered accusations were fed to her husband, creating suspicion and emotional distance between them.
According to her, some individuals even suggested she intended to harm him.
She recalled that for a period, the former president appeared to believe these claims. During that time, she said, his behaviour changed noticeably.
Doors were locked, access was restricted, and small personal habits were altered. More importantly, the nutritional structure that had sustained him was abandoned.
Meals became inconsistent, supplements were withdrawn, and schedules were ignored.
Aisha Buhari stated that her husband, who already ate sparingly, began skipping meals entirely. At one point, she claimed, he went nearly a year without taking lunch regularly, resulting in visible weight loss and physical weakness.
She maintained that the situation worsened because those managing his care failed to understand the importance of nutrition in maintaining his health.
While Buhari continued to perform his official duties, the strain on his body quietly intensified.
The former First Lady insisted that this mismanagement—not any exotic disease—was the true source of the health crisis that later forced him out of the country for treatment.
Addressing long-standing public speculation, Aisha Buhari firmly dismissed claims that her husband was poisoned or afflicted by a mysterious illness.
She said there were no hidden toxins, no engineered sickness, and no foreign agents involved. Instead, she pointed to prolonged nutritional neglect as the core issue.
She also revealed that she was eventually told that the president was no longer solely her husband but had become “state property.”
This, she said, marked the end of her authority over his personal care.
Once sidelined, she claimed that aides and unnamed backers took over, abandoning the careful balance she had spent years maintaining.
When Buhari was eventually flown to London for medical attention, doctors there reportedly prescribed an intensive nutritional and supplement regimen.
According to Aisha Buhari, the treatment plan was even more aggressive than what she had previously administered, reinforcing her belief that his condition stemmed from nutritional deficiency rather than disease.
Her account offers a rare glimpse into the private struggles behind the presidency, highlighting how power, protocol, and influence can interfere with personal health decisions.
It also raises broader questions about how leaders’ wellbeing is managed once private care gives way to state control.
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