Christopher Musa, minister of defence, has explained why the military initially denied reports of a foiled coup plot against President Bola Tinubu.
Musa spoke while answering questions during an interview on Sunday Politics, a programme aired on Channels Television.
He said the armed forces needed to confirm facts properly before making such a sensitive matter public.
“Once you mention coup, you will not see some of these guys because they know the consequences,” he said.
“The truth is that we wanted to be sure because it was an act of indiscipline and it’s all part of it because for what they did started just like that.
“So, it was during the investigation that these things got revealed and so, it was important for us to follow the steps to ensure that what we are reporting is direct.”
The minister stressed that the military avoided premature statements because of the gravity of coup allegations.
“This is because coup is such a serious thing that we don’t want to say this today and tomorrow we say another thing,” he said.
“It’s better we say no for now until we find out after investigation.”
In October 2025, the federal government cancelled the parade planned for Nigeria’s 65th independence anniversary.
Reports later emerged linking the cancellation to an alleged coup attempt.
The defence headquarters (DHQ) dismissed the speculation, insisting the decision had no connection to any plot.
The DHQ also said the arrest of 16 officers at the time was not related to an attempt to overthrow the government.
On October 31, 2025, reports emerged that 16 officers were arrested in the first week of the month, while two others were said to be on the run.
On January 26, the DHQ eventually confirmed that there had been a plot to remove Tinubu from office.
The military said the alleged plan was uncovered in late September 2025 through joint intelligence involving the army, the Department of State Services, and the Defence Intelligence Agency.
The plot reportedly included plans to assassinate Tinubu, Kashim Shettima, vice-president, and other senior government officials, as well as detain top military commanders.
