How Retired Major General, Others Planned To Oust Tinubu – Federal Govt

The federal government has accused a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army, Mohammed Ibrahim Gana, of being involved in a failed coup attempt against the Nigerian state.

The federal government in a court suit dated April 20, 2026, and signed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, accused the retired general and his accomplices of sharing over N71m among themselves for terrorism financing.

In the document released by the federal government with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026, apart from the major general, others listed in the charge sheet are retired Naval Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani.

Also mentioned in the charge sheet, but said to be at large, is a former minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva.

The federal government accused the defendants of offences ranging from alleged treason and terrorism to failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.

The prosecution alleged that the defendants conspired in 2025 “to levy war against the state to overpower the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, an offence punishable under Section 37(2) of the Criminal Code.

According to the charge, the defendants had prior knowledge of a planned treasonable act involving one Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji and others, but failed to alert the authorities.

The defendants were also accused of, while “knowing that a treasonable act was intended to be committed, did not give information thereof with all reasonable dispatch to either the President… or a peace officer.”

They were also accused of failing to take preventive steps and “did not use any reasonable endeavours to prevent the commission of the offence.”

Beyond treason, the defendants are facing terrorism-related charges of conspiracy under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as they “conspired with one another to commit an act of terrorism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Two of the suspects, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim and Zekeri Umoru, were specifically accused of attending meetings linked to the alleged plot “in a bid to further a political ideology which may seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The charge also accused the defendants of providing support for terrorism, alleging that they “knowingly and indirectly rendered support” to facilitate acts of terror.

The prosecution alleged deliberate suppression of intelligence, stating that the defendants “had information which would be of material assistance in preventing the commission of the act of terrorism but failed to disclose the information to the relevant agency as soon as practicable.”

In the charge sheet, Bukar Kashim Goni allegedly “indirectly retained the aggregate sum of N50,000,000, which forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, to wit: terrorism financing”, while Abdulkadir Sani allegedly retained N2 million from a similar source.

According to the charge, Zekeri Umoru “without going through a financial institution accepted a cash payment of the sum of N10,000,000″ and also retained an additional N8.8 million suspected to be proceeds of terrorism financing.

Another suspect, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, was also accused of taking possession of “the sum of N1,000,000, being part of proceeds of terrorism financing.”

LEADERSHIP recalls that Nigeria’s military authorities found themselves walking back from an earlier narrative over an alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu.

In October 2025, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had firmly dismissed reports of a planned overthrow as false and malicious.

At the time, its spokesman, Tukur Gusau, insisted that the arrest of 16 military officers was strictly a routine disciplinary action linked to professional misconduct, not an attempt to destabilise the government.

The Federal Government had echoed that stance, publicly expressing confidence in the military’s explanation and downplaying any suggestion of internal dissent.

However, by January 2026, the narrative took a dramatic turn.

The DHQ confirmed that intelligence gathered in the closing months of 2025 had indeed uncovered a coup plot.

According to military sources, the plan allegedly involved disrupting Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day celebrations, with the aim of detaining senior military commanders and key government officials in a coordinated move.

Following the discovery, the military concluded its investigations and announced that officers implicated in the plot would be brought before a military judicial panel.