Aisha Buhari told me president was not terminally ill in 2017 – Femi Adesina

Femi Adesina, a former Presidential spokesman, has disclosed what the immediate First Lady, Aisha Buhari, told him about former President Muhammadu Buhari during his illness in 2017.

Adesina disclosed that Aisha Buhari told him that the president was not terminally sick, noting that he was just “overworked and stressed.”

This was contained in his just-launched book: “Working with Buhari: Reflections Of A Special Adviser, Media And Publicity (2015 – 2023).

Adesina said the First Lady spoke to him ahead of a visit to Buhari in London in 2021.

The former presidential spokesman said he was under much pressure to declare that Buhari was incapacitated and unfit for office.

According to Adesina: “I was under a lot of barrage, particularly from the media, which expected me to declare the President either incapacitated, or dead. Waoh!

“There was this significant development, which saw us visiting the President in London, August 12, 2017. The team included the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, myself, Garba Shehu, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman Nigeria Diaspora Commission, and Lauretta Onochie, personal aide to the President on Social Media.

“The brain behind the visit was the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari. We spoke sparingly, but that day when the trip was being planned, my phone rang, and it was her. After exchange of pleasantries, she said: ‘My husband is not terminally ill. He is just stressed and overworked. I have been warning about it since last year.

“All he needs is rest. I spent 9 days with him, before returning to attend to some women projects. The children are with him. I think you should visit him too. You can’t be speaking for him without seeing him.’ And that was how the visit was arranged, at the behest of the First Lady.”