Former First Lady Aisha Buhari has given her most detailed account yet of life inside Aso Rock during her husband’s presidency, alleging that powerful cabals quietly seized control of access to President Muhammadu Buhari and transformed the Presidential Villa into a centre of manipulation and surveillance.
She claimed that unelected actors around the President planted listening devices in private quarters, enabling confidential conversations to be monitored and relayed to a narrow circle of power brokers who used the information to consolidate influence.
According to her, the practice had nothing to do with formal security operations and was driven instead by personal interests.
Aisha said the result was a breakdown of trust within the First Family and a gradual isolation of the President from voices outside the inner circle.
She alleged that even as First Lady, she found herself excluded from decision-making processes once Buhari assumed office in 2015.
Her revelations are contained in From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari by Dr Charles Omole, recently presented at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The book, she said, exposes how informal power networks shaped the presidency as much as constitutional authority.
According to her, individuals who had long anticipated Buhari’s rise moved swiftly to dominate access once power was secured.
Campaign allies disappeared, while new gatekeepers emerged, claiming exclusive insight into the President’s intentions and shielding him from dissenting views.
She dismissed suggestions that talk of a cabal was exaggerated, describing instead a coordinated group of relatives and associates who feared her assertiveness would weaken their grip.
Early advice to strike a compromise with them was rejected, she said, believing respect and professionalism would prevail.
Aisha further linked the internal power struggle to the deterioration of Buhari’s health, arguing that aides disrupted a long-established dietary and medical routine she supervised.
She said misinformation led the President to temporarily abandon prescribed supplements, contributing to visible weight loss and declining strength.
She recalled that when Buhari was eventually flown to London for treatment, doctors prescribed stronger nutritional supplements, which he initially resisted until she ensured he took them discreetly.
Within days, she said, his condition improved.
The former First Lady also addressed speculation surrounding Buhari’s prolonged medical absences, insisting that pneumonia and age-related complications, not conspiracy theories, defined his health challenges.
She blamed poor communication by the administration for allowing rumours to thrive.
Reflecting on Buhari’s final days, she described a quiet period marked by family presence and medical care rather than political intrigue.
She credited President Bola Tinubu with ensuring an orderly state burial and acknowledged the support of Vice President Kashim Shettima and officials of the Presidential Air Fleet.
Aisha said the death of her husband stripped the cabals of their influence, noting that their authority had rested solely on proximity to the President.
She insisted she and her children seek no retribution but warned that allowing unelected actors to dominate access to power remains a danger to Nigeria’s democracy.
Her account, she said, raises a broader question about governance in Nigeria: whether elected leaders truly wield authority or merely lend it to those who operate behind the scenes.
