EXCLUSIVE: Suspected coup plotters planned to truncate Buhari’s handing over to Tinubu

As Nigerians prepared for the transfer of power on 29 May 2023, a group of military officers was quietly plotting to overthrow the country’s democracy and assassinate key political figures.

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PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the coup plotters planned to violently disrupt the handover of power from former President Muhammadu Buhari to President Bola Tinubu.

Our sources said the failed plot was allegedly masterminded by Alhassan Ma’aji, a colonel with service number N/10668. Born on 1st March 1976, the Nupe native from Niger State started training on 18 August 1995 and finished on 16 September 2000.

The coup was initially scheduled for 29 May 2023 during the presidential inauguration. However, the plan was suspended due to insufficient funds and inadequate logistical arrangements, our sources said.

The conspirators then reactivated their plans in 2025 after a former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, who was accused of bankrolling the coup plotters, allegedly transferred almost N1 billion in multiple tranches to three separate bank accounts operated by a Bureau De Change operator.

Mr Sylva, 61, from Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was later declared wanted by the EFCC last year. Before the declaration, the former governor had his home raided by soldiers investigating the failed plot to topple President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Sylva confirmed the raid at the time but denied any involvement in a coup attempt.

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The Mastermind

Mr Ma’aji, the alleged mastermind of the coup, is a member of the infantry corps. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 2013 and to full colonel four years later. The 49-year-old officer was the Commanding Officer of the 19 Battalion of the Nigerian Army based in Okitipupa, Ondo State.

He took part in Operation Crocodile Smile II, a Nigerian Army military exercise conducted in 2017 to address security challenges in the Niger Delta and parts of the South-west. He also served at Depot, Nigerian Army and later as Commander, Operation Delta Safe.

He was a member of the 47 Regular Course of the NDA.

Assassination Targets

Mr Ma’aji and the other military officers allegedly planned a violent takeover in which top government officials were marked for elimination.

Earlier, government sources briefed on the investigation told this newspaper that the alleged plotters planned to assassinate President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas.

After further investigation, PREMIUM TIMES can now report that the coupists also targeted Service Chiefs, Commander, Guards Brigade, among others, for assassination.

Some officers were assigned to take full control of the Presidential Villa, the Niger Barracks, the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) Complex, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

How the coup plan was foiled

PREMIUM TIMES reported that a covert intelligence operation coordinated by the Army Headquarters and the State Security Service (SSS) helped thwart the deadly plot to overthrow President Tinubu’s government.

Multiple senior administration insiders said the plot began to unravel in late September 2025 after an unnamed military officer with direct knowledge of the coup contacted the then Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede.

The officer reportedly disclosed the scheme, saying he feared being implicated as an accessory to treason if he failed to alert authorities.

Our sources said around the same time, the SSS independently gathered intelligence indicating that some serving army officers were plotting to “destabilise the government and undermine Nigeria’s democracy.” An official familiar with the matter said the Director-General of the SSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi, personally briefed Mr Oluyede on the findings.

Faced with converging intelligence from multiple sources, the two security chiefs agreed to act swiftly. A wide-ranging but discreet joint operation was launched by the army and the SSS, with coordinated arrests planned across different parts of the country to neutralise the coup’s masterminds and other collaborators.

Following the initial arrests, President Tinubu was formally informed of the foiled plot. A visibly shaken president immediately ordered the cancellation of the 1 October National Independence Day parade. He also approved the constitution of a special investigative panel, which later led to additional arrests.

The investigative panel was led by an army general who is the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Emmanuel Undiandeye. One of the detained soldiers later escaped custody but was rearrested by SSS operatives in Bauchi, a military insider said. Meanwhile, a retired officer identified as General Adamu and former governor Sylva, accused of bankrolling the coup plotters, remain at large.

Mr Tinubu later fired and retired the then Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Musa, as well as the chiefs of the Navy and Air Force. Mr Oluyede was appointed CDS and promoted to the rank of General. Weeks later, Mr Musa returned to government as Minister of Defence.

In a statement issued on 4 October 2025, the Defence Headquarters said the arrested officers were being investigated for “indiscipline and breach of service regulations.” It added that preliminary findings suggested the officers’ grievances were linked to “career stagnation and failure in promotion examinations.”

In an 18 October statement, the Defence Headquarters described the probe involving the 16 arrested officers as a routine internal investigation aimed at maintaining discipline and professionalism within the armed forces.

However, on 26 January, the military publicly acknowledged for the first time that officers had indeed plotted to illegally overthrow President Tinubu’s administration. It announced that those indicted would be arraigned before a military judicial panel.

In its statement, the Defence Headquarters said the investigation has been completed and forwarded to “appropriate superior authority in line with extant regulations.”

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According to the military, the investigation was “comprehensive” and conducted in line with established procedures, examining “all circumstances surrounding the conduct of the affected personnel.”

The military disclosed that the findings identified “several officers with allegations of plotting to overthrow the government,” describing such conduct as “inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards required of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”