Aisha Buhari reveals cause of former President’s death

Former Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari has clarified that her late husband, former President Muhammadu Buhari, passed away from pneumonia, not cancer as some had speculated.

This disclosure is part of a new biography titled “From Soldier to Statesman: The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari,” written by Charles Omole, which details the former president’s final days.

President Buhari died in mid-2025 at a London clinic before being flown back to Nigeria for burial in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow The Lagos Voice on WhatsApp channel for latest updates

Recounting the difficult final period of his life, Mrs. Buhari described his last moments as a challenging ordeal. “The final days were difficult. ICU for some days, then the ward, then the slide,” she stated in the book.

The former First Lady attributed her husband’s illness to a lifetime of physical hardship, tracing its origins back to his military career. She believes decades of exposure to harsh conditions took a toll on his health.

“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,” she was quoted as saying. “Decades later, she believes, the cold had lodged in his lungs and bones—exacerbated by office air-conditioning. Pneumonia was the last adversary.”

The biography further supports this account, noting that sputum tests conducted on the late president never showed any indication of cancer. “It was pneumonia, they said, but at his age, pneumonia can be sovereign,” the book states, highlighting the severity of the illness for an elderly person.