Colonel Who Plotted Against Tinubu Says Failed Promotion Pushed Him

Colonel Mohammed Ma'aji, one of the principal suspects in the alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu's administration, has told investigators that being denied promotion to brigadier general twice pushed him towards plotting a military takeover. According to Premium Times, the Niger State-born officer made these statements during interrogation, saying his frustration began in 2023 after the military hierarchy failed to address worsening insecurity and poor welfare of personnel.

Ma'aji claims he was lured into custody on September 29, 2025, by senior military authorities who exploited his desire for promotion. He said the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, personally called him about his long-delayed promotion, and even handed him $1000 as welfare support before directing him to accompany the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Undiandeye. Instead of a promotion discussion, he was taken to Brigadier General Nicholas Ashinze's office at the DIA and questioned about the plot.

Here is a man who allegedly plotted to overthrow a democratically elected government because he did not get a promotion. Meanwhile, insecurity has claimed thousands of lives and soldiers are poorly paid. The system that denies competent officers advancement and then uses that same frustration to trap them is deeply broken. If the military hierarchy knew about his activities as early as 2023, why did they wait until 2025 to act? Who else in the ranks shares this frustration, and what does that say about the state of our armed forces?