Alleged Coup Coordinator Ma’aji Once Served as Security Adviser to Timi Sylva – Report

Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji, identified by investigators as a key coordinator of the alleged plot to overthrow Nigeria’s democratic government, once worked as a security adviser to Timi Sylva during the 2015 Bayelsa State governorship election, TheCable has exclusively reported.

Investigators have searched Sylva’s residences in Abuja, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. His media aide, Julius Bokoru, has denied any link between the former minister of state for petroleum resources and the failed coup, describing Sylva as “a thoroughbred democrat” who continues to support President Bola Tinubu.

Ma’aji, described by security sources as “very close” to Sylva, coordinated security operations for him during the December 5, 2015 Bayelsa election. Sylva, then the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 86,852 votes, losing to Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 134,998 votes.

Sylva, a former PDP governor of Bayelsa State from 2007 to 2012, had earlier won a re-run election in 2008 after a tribunal nullified his initial victory. He was later denied a second-term ticket by the PDP, which chose Dickson as its candidate.

Although investigators have not concluded whether Ma’aji masterminded the foiled coup, they believe he played a central role by recruiting junior officers and handling logistics and funding — raising speculation that political backers may have been involved.

Military sources say Ma’aji, who spent years serving in the oil-rich Niger Delta, has so far refused to cooperate with investigators, remaining silent during questioning. Junior officers reportedly linked to the case have, however, made “significant statements” to the special military panel probing the plot.

Searches of Ma’aji’s Abuja home and forensic examinations on both him and his wife have allegedly uncovered extensive financial records and property documents.

Born in 1976 to Nupe parents in Niger State, Ma’aji was part of Regular Course 47 at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2000. He rose to the rank of colonel in 2017 after completing the Policy, Strategy and Leadership Course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, where he served as president of Course 21.

He previously commanded the 19 Battalion in Okitipupa, Ondo State, before being posted to Koko, Delta State, in 2017. In January 2021, he was appointed commanding officer of Operation Delta Safe after a transfer from the Nigerian Army Depot in Zaria.