Former First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has disclosed that her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, died of pneumonia and not cancer, contrary to widely circulated reports suggesting pulmonary lymphoma or leukaemia.
Aisha’s account is contained in a new biography titled From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari, authored by Dr Charles Omole.
The book revealed that the final days of Buhari’s life, shortly after the completion of his eight-year tenure as president, were traumatic for his family due to serious health challenges.
Recounting the experience, Aisha Buhari said, “The final days were difficult. ICU for some days, then the ward, then the slide.
“The last three days were the worst.”
Buhari was in his eighties when he completed his two terms in office.
According to the biography, Buhari’s health challenges intensified in his final year after leaving office, leading to increased medical trips abroad.
“After leaving office, in his final year before passing, phone calls increased and transatlantic trips became more frequent,” the book stated.
“The family’s calendar was filled with funerals and flights. He had gone to the UK, as he often did, to repair a tooth and enjoy the summer air.”
Aisha reportedly stayed back in Abuja to mourn a nephew before returning to London, only to travel back to Nigeria again following the death of an uncle.
Aisha Buhari attributed her husband’s illness to decades of physical exposure dating back to his military career.
“He had been a soldier in the bush for 30 months, mostly in the South-South, soaked by rain in uniforms that dried on his body,” the book quoted her as saying.
“Decades later, she believes, the cold had lodged in his lungs and bones — exacerbated by office air-conditioning.”
She acknowledged that Buhari had smoked earlier in life and noted that age worsened his condition.
“Pneumonia was the last adversary,” the biography stated.
The book detailed that Buhari’s children moved in and out of hospital corridors, with one daughter spending the night before his final day by his bedside.
Doctors reportedly diagnosed acute pneumonia, a diagnosis that raised questions among members of the public.
“Pneumonia doesn’t usually kill people,” Aisha was quoted as being told.
She replied, “It can, especially with old age, and perhaps with a lifetime’s exposure to cold and dust in the field.
“He always coughed, even when he laughed.”
Aisha recounted intimate moments from Buhari’s last hours, including efforts by a Gambian nurse to help relieve his breathing using a pillow.
“They counted together, ‘One, two, three,’ but they couldn’t shift the weight,” the book stated.
“They inserted the pillow sideways. ‘Are you okay now?’ she asked. ‘Yes, thank you,’ he replied.”
She described prayers, rotating family members at his bedside, repeated X-rays and moments of fragile optimism after test results ruled out other feared diagnoses.
The biography noted that sputum tests ruled out cancer, reinforcing the pneumonia diagnosis.
“It was pneumonia, they said, but at his age, pneumonia can be sovereign,” the book quoted.
Aisha said she left the hospital briefly around 2 p.m. to rest and pray, after which she felt an unexplained urge to return.
“At 4 p.m., she later learned, his breathing changed and then ceased,” the book stated.
Aisha Buhari directly addressed rumours suggesting her husband died of cancer, insisting that the official diagnosis given to the family was pneumonia.
“Other sources reported lung-related cancer, specifically pulmonary lymphoma,” the book noted, adding that such conditions could be misdiagnosed due to similarities in symptoms and scans.
However, Aisha maintained that the diagnosis communicated to them by doctors was pneumonia.
The book also shared lighter moments from Buhari’s final days, including Aisha recalling a magazine in his hand while in the ICU and joking with him about being moved to a proper ward.
“She would banter with him,” the biography noted, capturing the tender moments shared by the former First Lady and her husband until the very end.
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