Alleged coup: Military court postpones ruling for fourth time
The General Court Martial handling the alleged coup plot case involving some military officers accused of attempting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration has postponed its ruling again.
The ruling, which was expected on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, will now be delivered on Monday, October 5, 2026.
The military communicated the latest adjournment in a notice issued to members of the court and other parties involved in the proceedings.
“The GCM sitting earlier adjourned to Wednesday, 30 September, 2026, has now been postponed to Monday, 5 October, 2026,” the notice stated.
“The new sitting is scheduled to commence at 10am at the Scorpion Officers’ Mess, Asokoro, Abuja.
The notice was signed by Major M.U. Ardo, the Liaison Officer. Although no reason was given for the postponement, the military expressed regret over any inconvenience the development might cause.
The latest adjournment is the fourth time the court has deferred its ruling, extending the wait for a decision in the military trial.
The ruling is expected to address the admissibility of statements allegedly obtained from some of the accused officers during a trial-within-a-trial conducted by the court.
Defence counsel had objected to the admission of the statements, alleging that officials of the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, coerced some of the accused into making or reproducing statements they described as containing false information.
The defence also argued that the statements failed to satisfy the legal conditions required for their admission in evidence.
Among the issues raised was an allegation that lawyers or witnesses chosen by some of the accused officers were not present while the statements were being taken.
The defence further questioned why there were no video recordings showing the officers writing their statements in the presence of their selected witnesses, as required by relevant provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Counsel also alleged that some of the officers were neither properly cautioned nor sufficiently informed of their rights before making the statements.
The prosecution, however, relied on evidence aimed at showing that the statements were voluntarily made and were not obtained through improper pressure.
Several of the accused officers gave a different account during the trial-within-a-trial, alleging that they were subjected to coercion, intimidation, inducement and physical abuse while in detention.
Evidence before the court showed that some of the officers claimed they were led to believe that reproducing certain statements would secure their release.
They also alleged that intelligence officials had already prepared some of the statements and forced them to copy or sign the documents, even though they allegedly did not know of some of the matters contained in them.
Some of the accused further told the court that they did not originate or personally write the statements attributed to them. They alleged that they were compelled to reproduce pre-written documents containing claims or admissions they regarded as false or unrelated to their knowledge.
The General Court Martial is headed by Air Vice Marshal H.I. Alhaji of the Nigerian Air Force.
