EXCLUSIVE: This is how former Gov. Sylva’s alleged coup donations were shared

Fresh details have surfaced revealing how former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva’s alleged financial contributions to the 2025 failed coup plot were distributed to participants assigned strategic responsibilities for the operation.

Military investigators alleged that Mr Sylva, considered the principal financier, funnelled his contributions into the plot through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company involved in real estate, land transactions and construction.

From the company’s account, the money flowed into the accounts of a bureau de change (BDC) operator, Abdullahi Sani Mohammed, who disbursed the funds as instructed by 50-year-old Army Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji, a central figure in the plot.

PREMIUM TIMES previously reported that Mr Mohammed received N785 million in Mr Sylva’s alleged donations from Purple Waves Limited’s account dedicated to financing the alleged plot.

The Purple Waves account had a balance of more than N5 billion pooled from different sources as of the time disbursement towards the alleged coup planning started in September 2025.

Investigative records assembled for the prosecution of coup suspects show that the BDC operator made 47 payments to various individuals in the thick of the preparations for the alleged coup in the last 11 days of September last year.

PREMIUM TIMES found from the documents that the transfers of more than N474.7 million to individuals and entities took place from 10 to 30 September 2025, coming close to the two furthest dates insiders proposed to launch the coup strike.

Two dates that insiders kept in view before the plot crumbled were 1 October, Nigeria’s Independence Day, and 4 October.

An earlier date, 27 September, which also featured in the coup deliberations, had passed by the time the conspiracy broke down.

The plot, allegedly aimed at overthrowing President Bola Tinubu’s administration and restoring a military regime in the country, collapsed with the arrest of the suspected coup leader, Mr Ma’aji, on 29 September 2025.

For days, many members of the alleged coup network were unaware of Mr Ma’aji’s arrest. 

Mr Mohammed, the BDC man, continued transferring money to beneficiaries, based on Mr Ma’aji’s standing instructions, up till 30 September, a day after the arrest.

He also kept receiving transfers from Purple Waves Limited for disbursement up till 2 October.

From Forex business relationship to alleged coup funds disbursement

Mr Mohammed, a 48-year-old BDC operator based in Kano, Kano State, told interrogators about his longtime business relationship with Mr Ma’aji before the Purple Waves Limited transactions started in September 2025.

He gave an overview of their past foreign exchange transactions in his extrajudicial statement.

“Sometimes, Oga Ma’aji will call me to ask for a dollar price. If he asks me, I’ll tell him. Sometimes, he will ask if he can buy $1,000 or $3,000. Sometimes, he will ask for $10,000 or $9,000.

“Sometimes, Ma’aji can sell dollars to me like $10,000, $7,000 and $20,000. Sometimes $600 or $300 or $1,000 or $8,000. The big amount Ma’aji sold to me was $40,000 and $50,000,” he wrote in his extrajudicial statement during interrogation by military investigators.

Then, the dealings switched to the Purple Wave transactions in September 2025. Mr Ma’aji had assured Mr Sylva, who served during the immediate past administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, that the BDC operator would not be informed of the purpose of the funds.

Investigators found that the BDC operator,  carried out the transactions with the bank accounts of his entities identified as Express Link, ASA Multipurpose Concept and LUJI Trade & Investment Ltd.

Recalling the Purple Wave Limited’s inflows into his business accounts, Mr Mohammed said the first major transfers came in two tranches of N150 million each, both paid into his A&A Express Link account domiciled in Providus Bank.

“Oga Ma’aji called me around 18 September (2025), he told me his people will pay money into the account. As I checked the account, I saw N150,000,000 in A&A Express in Providus Bank.

“He sends me a voice note on WhatsApp directing me to pay N10,000,000 in his First Bank account. Later, I received another N150,000,000 in the same Providus account, making it to be N300,000,000” he wrote.

Two days after, he said, another N100 million was paid into his second business account, LUJI Trade and Investment, domiciled in Fidelity Bank.

He recalled that this was followed by additional transfers of N50 million, N100 million and another N50 million.

“All these were paid into my LUJI Trade and Investment account in Fidelity Bank,” the BDC operator said.

He confirmed receiving the money shared from Purple Waves Limited’s account domiciled in SunTrust Bank.

Mr Mohammed said he received a total of N785 million from Purple Waves Limited between 20 September and 2 October 2025.

“Later he (Ma’aji) called me to his house in Lokogoma (in Abuja) to calculate some money that I paid into people’s accounts. He brought out his paper and his list to show me and tell me to buy $5,000 to bring to his house,” Mr Mohammed wrote.

Disbursement to beneficiaries

Ensuring that the money reached the intended beneficiaries was the BDC operator’s primary responsibility in the alleged plot. Mr Ma’aji would instruct him on who to transfer funds and the amount to transfer to each recipient.

Bank records and the BDC operator’s extrajudicial statement indicate that beneficiaries included serving and retired military officers, Islamic clerics consulted for spiritual support, and others assigned civilian responsibilities.

Among the military officers was Shamsudeen Bappah, a lieutenant colonel assigned to seize and hold 102 Battalion, Zuma, Niger State, allegedly received N5 million on 27 September 2025.

Felix Sunday Stephen, a lieutenant tasked with surveying the airport in Lagos, gathering operational information and disrupting flight activities on the “D-Day,”  reportedly received N5 million on 23 September 2025.

Aminu John, also a lieutenant, was allegedly paid N10 million on 22 September 2025.

Mundi Usman, an army major, who was tasked with leading the operation at the Presidential Aso Villa, allegedly received N10 million on 23 September 2025. 

Squadron Leader Zuzu Noel Goddy of the Nigerian Air Force, who was to deploy squadron gun trucks onto the runway to halt flight operations in Abuja during the takeover, reportedly received N1 million on 28 September 2025, while another Squadron Leader, Sani Bubara Adamu, saddled with the responsibility of seizing the Air House. allegedly received N1 million on 25 September 2025. Military investigators said Mr Adamu is on the run.

Other alleged beneficiaries included former Captain Abubakar Mohammed, who reportedly received N5 million on 29 September 2025; Corporal Aliyu Ibrahim, who allegedly received N5 million on the same day, and Warrant Officer Nasiru Ibrahim, who reportedly received N5 million on 28 September 2025.

PREMIUM TIMES detailed the alleged coup roles assigned to some of these officers paid through the BDC operator.

Investigators also traced several transfers to corporate accounts, suggesting that some recipients used company names to receive the funds.

For instance, the BDC operator allegedly transferred N10.3 million to Cutzbytz Cakes on 22 September 2025. The same account reportedly received another N20 million on 26 September 2025 and a further N1.2 million on 27 September 2025.

A Muslim cleric, Goni Bukar, was also listed among the beneficiaries. He was allegedly paid to provide spiritual support for the plot. According to the records, he allegedly received an initial N10 million transfer on 20 September 2025, followed by N20 million on 23 September and another N20 million on 29 September 2025, bringing the total amount transferred to him to about N50 million.

Mr Mohammed’s extrajudicial statement showed that he disbursed about N474.7 million to the various beneficiaries as instructed by Mr Ma’aji. PREMIUM TIMES reported that an undisbursed sum of N306.6 million was recovered from him by the Nigerian Army after his arrest.

Below is the breakdown of the transfers the BDC operator allegedly made to the said beneficiaries.

• N10 million was first sent to Mr Ma’aji on 20 September 2025.
• N10 million was first sent to Imam Goni Bukar Kashim 20 September 2025.
• N7 million was sent to Mustapha Garba 20 September 2025.
• N5.5 million was sent to Stephen Kanabe 21 September 2025
• N8 million was sent to Fatima Musa on 22 September 202t
• N5 million was sent to Ma’aji Alhassan on 22 September 2025
• N4 million was sent to Nancy Sabanti Nattan on 22 September 2024
• N10.3 million was first sent to Cutzbytz cakes on 22 September 2025
• N10 million was sent to John Aminu 22 September
• N32 million was sent to Co-fran Spinfluence 23 September 2025
• N3.5 million was sent to Aduko Engineering services on 23 September 2025
• N2 million was sent to Sani Abdulkadir on 23 September 2025

• N20 million was sent  to Imam Goni Bukar on 23 September 2025

• N10 million was sent to Usman Mundi on 23 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Felix Sunday Stephen on 23 September 2025
• N40 million was sent to Alhaji Abubakar Maliki on 23 September 2025
• N2 million was sent to Gana Mohammed on 22 September 2025
• N1.55 million was sent to Matilda Rozi Ltd on 24 September 2025
• N10 million was sent to Schutmann Nig Ltd on 24 September 2025
• N10.9 million was sent to Ezemenike Chinedu Stephen on 24 September 2025
• N4 million was sent to Mr Ma’aji on 24 September 2025
• N15 million was sent to Alhaji Abubakar Maliki on 24 September 2025
• N12 million was sent to Felix Sunday Stephen on 25 September 2025
• N10 million was sent to Usman Mundi Adamu on 25 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Musa Muhammad Adamu on 25 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Abdulkareem Jibrin on 25 September 2025
• N10 million was sent to Ma’aji on 25 September 2025
• N15 million was sent to Overere Services Ltd on 25 September 2025
• N1 million was sent to Adamu Sani Bubara on 25 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Ma’aji Alhassan on 26 September 2025
• N20 million was sent to Cutzbyt Cakes on 26 September 2025
• N1.2 million was sent to Cutzbyt Cakes on 27 September 2025
• N46.5 million was sent to Ahmed Abdulganiyu, an auto dealer, on 27 September
• N5 million was sent to Shamsudeen Bappah on 27 September 2025
• N10 million was sent to Ma’aji Alhassan on 27 September 2025
• N1 million was sent to Zuzu Noel Goddy on 28 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Nasiru Biyabiki Ibrahim on 28 September 2025
• N17.5 million was sent to Christopher Elube on 28 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Usman Mundi on 28 September 2025
• N18.5 million was sent to Christopher Elube on 28 September 2025
• N1 million was sent to Adamu Saidu on 28 September 2025
• N2 million was sent to Muhammad Lawan Muhammad on 28 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Muhammad Abubakar on 28 September 2025
• N20 million was sent to Imam Goni Bukar on 29 September 2025
• N17 million was sent to Muhammad Sani Adamu on 29 September 2025
• N5 million was sent to Aliyu Ibrahim on 29 September 2025
• N6.260 million was sent to Auto Revive on 30 September 2025.

The alleged coup planning

Confidential documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES have provided fuller details of how the alleged coup plot was conceived, organised and planned before military authorities foiled it.

The top insiders of the conspiracy developed lexicons rooted in agricultural terms to conceal their discussions from outsiders and security agencies. They referred to themselves as farmers and codenamed the entire operation ‘farming’. Other agricultural-related words were used: ‘Fertilisers’ as logistics, ‘harvest’ as the execution day, ‘digital farming’ as the operation and ‘technical partners’ as clerics approached for prayers.

Our previous report showed how Mr Sylva, hesitant about the coup initially, became an alleged sponsor of the plot. 

Another report by this newspaper detailed how the former governor raised the funds he threw at the alleged coup through Purple Waves Limited. The Purple Wave Limited’s account from which the plot was being financed allegedly had a balance of over N5 billion by the time disbursements to alleged members of the conspiracy started in September 2025.

Mr Sylva, who is believed to be abroad, denied involvement in the alleged coup in October last year. But five people associated with him are facing charges for failing to disclose his whereabouts.

Mr Ma’aji and several other suspects linked to the alleged plot were arrested between September and October last year.

In all, more than 40 suspects, including serving military officers, police personnel and civilians, have been arrested in connection with the alleged coup plot.

Thirty-six serving military personnel are currently facing trial before a General Court Martial in Abuja, while six other suspects are standing trial on 13 charges before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The defendants before the Federal High Court have challenged the admissibility of their extrajudicial statements and video recordings, which prosecutors intend to rely on as evidence of their alleged involvement in the plot and their relationship with Mr Ma’aji. They argued that the statements and video exhibits were obtained in violation of the safeguards provided under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. However, the prosecution has urged the court to dismiss the objections and admit the evidence.

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Read the teaser story for the PREMIUM TIMES series of exclusive reports on the failed coup plot here, and subsequent exposés here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.