Suspected Coup Plotters Allegedly Planned to Disrupt Buhari–Tinubu Handover — Report

As Nigerians prepared for the transfer of power on 29 May 2023, a group of serving and retired military officers was quietly planning to upend the democratic process and assassinate senior political and military figures, according to reports from Premium Times

Multiple security and government sources familiar with an extensive investigation told this newspaper that the plot was designed to violently disrupt the handover of power from President Muhammadu Buhari to President Bola Tinubu during the presidential inauguration in Abuja.

“The plan was to strike on inauguration day, create confusion, eliminate key leaders and announce a change in government,” one senior security official briefed on the investigation said. “It was meant to look sudden, decisive and irreversible.”

According to the sources, the coup was initially scheduled for 29 May 2023 but was suspended at the last minute due to what investigators described as “serious funding gaps and poor logistical readiness.” The conspirators allegedly regrouped in 2025 after fresh financial inflows revived the operation.

Investigators identified Alhassan Ma’aji, a colonel in the Nigerian Army, as the alleged coordinator of the plot. Mr Ma’aji, a Nupe from Niger State, enlisted in the army in 1995 and completed his training in 2000. He served as Commanding Officer of the 19 Battalion in Okitipupa, Ondo State, and participated in several internal security operations, including Operation Crocodile Smile II in the Niger Delta.

A military officer with knowledge of the investigation said Mr Ma’aji used his operational experience and network of contacts to recruit collaborators across different units. “He knew who to talk to and how to speak their language,” the officer said. “This was not an amateur effort.”

Security sources alleged that the plot regained momentum in 2025 after a former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, allegedly transferred close to ₦1 billion in multiple tranches through accounts operated by a Bureau De Change operator. Mr Sylva has denied any involvement in a coup plot.

“He was a critical funding node, according to the intelligence,” a government official familiar with the probe said. “Without that money, the plan would not have been reactivated.”

Mr Sylva later confirmed that his residence was raided by soldiers but said he had nothing to hide. He was subsequently declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. A retired senior military officer identified by investigators as General Adamu is also believed to be at large.

The investigation further revealed that the conspirators planned targeted assassinations of President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas. Service chiefs, the Commander of the Guards Brigade, and other senior officers were also marked for elimination.

“The intent was decapitation,” one intelligence source said. “They wanted to remove both the political leadership and the military command structure at the same time.”

Some officers were allegedly assigned to seize strategic locations, including the Presidential Villa, Niger Barracks, the Armed Forces of Nigeria Complex, and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, to prevent resistance and control movement in and out of Abuja.

The plot began to unravel in late September 2025 after a serving officer with direct knowledge of the scheme contacted the then Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede. According to sources, the officer said he feared being implicated as an accomplice if the plan succeeded.

“He told the army chief plainly that silence would make him complicit,” a senior military source said. “That confession changed everything.”

Around the same period, the State Security Service independently obtained intelligence pointing to a coordinated effort by some officers to destabilise the government. The Director-General of the SSS, Oluwatosin Ajayi, personally briefed Mr Oluyede, prompting a joint covert operation by the army and the SSS.

What followed were coordinated arrests across several states, carried out quietly to avoid alerting other conspirators. After the first wave of arrests, President Tinubu was formally briefed on the foiled plot.

According to sources at the Presidency, the president was visibly shaken by the scale of the plan. He immediately ordered the cancellation of the 1 October 2025 Independence Day parade and approved the setting up of a special investigative panel.

The panel, led by the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Emmanuel Undiandeye, conducted months of interviews and forensic financial reviews. One detained soldier later escaped custody but was rearrested in Bauchi by SSS operatives.

In early October 2025, the Defence Headquarters said the arrested officers were being investigated for indiscipline and breaches of service regulations, initially attributing their grievances to stalled promotions. On 18 October, the military described the probe as routine.

However, on 26 January, the military publicly acknowledged for the first time that officers had indeed plotted to illegally overthrow President Tinubu’s administration. In a statement, the Defence Headquarters said the investigation had been concluded and forwarded to “appropriate superior authority in line with extant regulations.”

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

Following the investigation, President Tinubu approved the retirement of the then Chief of Defence Staff and the heads of the Navy and Air Force. Mr Oluyede was later appointed Chief of Defence Staff and promoted to the rank of general, while those indicted are expected to face a military judicial panel.