Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), Minister of Defence, revealed on Sunday that he was one of the intended targets of the recently failed coup plot against President Bola Tinubu, with the conspirators threatening to arrest or shoot him if he refused.
Musa made the announcement while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he also branded the plotters as “a bunch of very unserious individuals.”
While admitting to playing a crucial part in assisting security agencies in thwarting the conspiracy, the former Chief of Defence Staff claimed he was personally targeted for arrest by the plotters.
“I was also a target, I am sure you know. I was supposed to be arrested, and if I refused, I was supposed to be shot,” he said.
“But that’s the job. Anybody who goes into a coup zeroes his mind because he knows if he succeeds, good.
“If he doesn’t succeed, whatever consequences come, you are ready for it.”
Musa denied the suspects’ ability to successfully confront the Nigerian state, saying their acts demonstrated a fundamental knowledge of Nigeria’s democratic history and the power of its armed forces.
“But again, I think these guys were just a bunch of very unserious individuals that I really don’t know. If you look at the caliber of the individuals, I really don’t know what got into their heads to think that they could take on the armed forces like that,” he said.
He also stated that even without the intervention of the military, Nigerians would have resisted any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government.
“What I even said was that even Nigerians would have fought them. Even without the armed forces, Nigerians would have stood against them. Remember how Nigerians fought against the military rule for quite some time. And that’s why Mr. President has always been one of them.
“So now, for them to think they could just wake up one morning and do that in Nigeria, I think something went wrong in there. They need to reset their brains.”
Speaking on the arrests made thus far, the Defence Minister stated that the majority of individuals involved had been arrested, with only “maybe one or two” remaining at large.
“So far, most of them have been caught. If there’s anyone, maybe one or two. It just started from the colonel himself, who felt disgruntled because he was not promoted. He didn’t meet the marks to be promoted,” he said.
Musa claimed that the scheme was mostly motivated by personal issues, stressing that the military’s advancement system is stringent and merit-based.
“You know that the armed forces is really very strict about its promotions system. But he didn’t make it. So what he decided to do was probably go around and look at other people that had one issue or the other…with the aim of bringing them in,” he said.
Musa expressed concern for junior cops reportedly lured into the conspiracy, saying, “My pain is all those young officers who didn’t understand what was going on, and he put them in this mess.” Now they must face the consequences.
“So everything revolves around him as an individual. But he was just a colonel. I can’t even imagine a colonel ever thinking of doing such a thing.”
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The defense minister stressed that executing a coup in modern-day Nigeria was virtually impossible, unlike in the past.
“That was in the past. That was Nigeria of yesteryear. It’s impossible,” he said, adding that security agencies relied on verified facts, not speculation, before acting.
“If there’s a situation where you hear that somebody is trying to do something and you walk in, what facts do you have because you are going to go to the courts? If you can’t present it in the courts, then they throw you away. And then you look stupid.”
He stated that the investigation was thorough and collaborative, involving multiple intelligence agencies to avoid indicting innocent officers.
“Since I was there, I was the one who inaugurated the board. I made sure the board started. We sent them to DIA to do a thorough investigation along with the NIA, DSS, and every other person. So it’s a holistic investigation that was carried out because we didn’t want any innocent person to be indicted,” Musa said.
He rejected claims that the plot was driven by dissatisfaction with the current administration, insisting it predated Tinubu’s inauguration.
“These things were planned even right before the president took office. So it was a plan they had ahead of him since they knew he was the one who won the election,” he said, describing the development as “quite unfortunate.”
Musa also mentioned that past coups succeeded only with the backing of top military commanders, a factor completely absent in the current case.
“If you remember, during those days when they had coups, you had to have most of the big boys, like the GOCs and service chiefs…You don’t have any of such. They are just very low-ranking individuals that have no access to some of these things,” he said.
“For anybody to want to truncate democracy in this disposition, I think there’s something really wrong with them.”
Chronicle NG reported that former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, may be arraigned in absentia over alleged financial crimes, amid ongoing investigations into the purported coup plot.
Sylva has been out of the country for months after Defence Intelligence Agency operatives raided his Abuja home in connection with investigations into the purported coup attempt against Tinubu’s administration.
It was reported that the former governor, who has also been proclaimed wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged $14,859,257 fraud, might be tried in absentia.
Top officials from the Department of State Services and the EFCC said that the International Criminal Police Organization and other partners were tracking Sylva.
The Defence Headquarters disregarded claims of a coup attempt in October 2025, despite the arrest of 16 officers accused of financing the scheme.
In a statement issued on October 18, 2025, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, then Director of Defence Information, disputed rumors linking the arrests to a failed coup and the cancelation of the October 1 Independence Day celebration, describing them as “intended to cause unnecessary tension.”
The military later reversed its view. Last Monday, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, the new Director of Defence Information, said that investigations had uncovered a scheme to destabilize Tinubu’s administration and that some officers faced charges.
