Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, a retired senior army officer, has said he was one of the people targeted in a recently foiled plot to overthrow Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the leader of Africa’s most populous country.
General Musa said the alleged conspirators planned to arrest him, and that he could have been shot if he resisted.
He spoke on Sunday, 1 February 2026, during Politics Today, a political programme on Channels Television, a Nigerian news broadcaster. Okay News reports that he described the suspected plotters as people he did not consider serious enough to successfully challenge the Nigerian state.
“I was also a target. I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” he said.
The Defence Minister said security agencies moved early to stop the plan and he suggested the suspects did not understand how Nigeria’s democracy and armed forces now operate. Nigeria has a long history of military takeovers, but the country returned to civilian rule in 1999 after years of military governments.
General Musa argued that even without military intervention, many Nigerians would have opposed any attempt to remove an elected government.
He also said arrests had been made and that only a small number of suspects might still be at large. According to him, the matter started with a colonel who was unhappy about not being promoted.
He said Nigeria’s armed forces apply a strict promotions process based on standards and merit, and he claimed the officer did not meet the required marks.
The Defence Minister expressed concern that some younger officers may have been pulled into the alleged plot without fully understanding what they were joining, and he said they would now face the consequences.
General Musa also insisted that carrying out a coup in present-day Nigeria would be extremely difficult, unlike in earlier decades. He said security actions must be based on evidence that can stand in court, not rumours or speculation.
On the investigation, he said a board was set up and that several agencies worked together to avoid blaming innocent officers. He said the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) carried out inquiries alongside the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and other security bodies.
General Musa also rejected claims that the alleged plot was mainly driven by anger against the current administration, saying the plan started even before President Tinubu was sworn in, based on the belief that he would win the election.
He added that previous coups in Nigeria were often linked to support from top military commanders, such as General Officers Commanding (GOCs) and service chiefs, and he claimed that such high-level backing was not present in this case.
His comments came amid ongoing attention on a separate but related investigation angle involving Timipre Sylva, a former governor of Bayelsa State, an oil-producing state in southern Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. Reports have linked the widening investigations to a raid on a residence in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, and the possibility that Sylva could face legal proceedings in absentia, meaning the case could proceed in court while the defendant is not physically present.
Authorities were also said to be pursuing Sylva over alleged financial crimes, including an allegation involving $14,859,257, while international and local partners continue efforts to locate him.
In October 2025, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters initially denied that arrests of 16 officers were connected to any coup attempt, and it also dismissed claims that a planned national ceremony on Wednesday, 1 October 2025, was cancelled for that reason. In a statement dated Saturday, 18 October 2025, the then Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, rejected the reports and said they were aimed at creating public fear.
However, the military later changed its position. On Monday, 26 January 2026, the new Director of Defence Information, Major General Samaila Uba, confirmed that investigations had uncovered an alleged plot to topple the administration and said several officers had questions to answer.
