Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has revealed that her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, once believed rumours circulating within Aso Rock that she planned to kill him, a situation she said deeply affected his health.

The disclosure is contained in a new biography titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, written by Dr. Charles Omole and launched at the State House on Monday, December 15.

According to Aisha Buhari, the health crisis that forced Buhari to embark on extended medical leave in 2017 did not begin with a mysterious illness but with a breakdown in his carefully managed nutrition routine. She said she had long overseen her husband’s meals and supplements, a system she developed to support what she described as his frail body and long history of malnutrition-related symptoms.

“He doesn’t have a chronic illness. Keep him on schedule,” she recalled saying, stressing that elderly bodies require consistent and gentle nutritional care.

The book recounts that after moving into Aso Villa, Aisha Buhari called a meeting with key officials, including the president’s physician, Suhayb Rafindadi, the Chief Security Officer, Bashir Abubakar, the housekeeper, and the Director-General of the DSS, to explain the feeding plan.

The routine involved specific meals and supplements administered at fixed hours daily. However, she said the system gradually collapsed due to fear and internal gossip.

“Then came the gossip and the fear mongering. They said I wanted to kill him,” the book quoted her as saying.

According to Aisha Buhari, the president believed the rumours for about a week, during which he began locking his room and altering his daily habits. She said meals were delayed or skipped entirely, and his supplements were stopped.

“For a year, he did not have lunch. They mismanaged his meals,” she said.

The disruption, she explained, contributed to Buhari’s health deterioration and ultimately led to his two prolonged medical trips to the United Kingdom in 2017, which lasted a combined 154 days. During that period, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo assumed presidential duties.

Upon his return, Buhari reportedly admitted that he had “never been so ill” and disclosed that he had received blood transfusions during his treatment abroad.

The biography traces Buhari’s life from his childhood in Daura, Katsina State, to his final days in a London hospital in mid-July 2025, shedding new light on the personal and health challenges he faced during his presidency.