EXCLUSIVE: Ma’aji, alleged coordinator of botched coup, was once Timi Sylva’s security adviser

Mohammed Ma’aji, a colonel regarded by investigators as the coordinator of the alleged plot to topple Nigeria’s democracy, was a security adviser to Timi Sylva in the 2015 Bayelsa state gubernatorial election, TheCable understands.

Sylva’s residences in Abuja were recently searched by investigators, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Julius Bokoru, his special assistant on media and public affairs, has denied reports linking the former minister of state for petroleum resources to the botched coup.

In a statement, Bokoru described Sylva as “an unrepentant and thoroughbred democrat” who has consistently supported President Bola Tinubu.

Ma’aji, who is said to be “very close” to Sylva, coordinated security for the former governor in the December 5, 2015 election.

Sylva, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 86,852 votes, losing to Seriake Dickson, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 134,998 votes.

He previously led Bayelsa state as a PDP governor between 2007 and 2012, with his first election cancelled in 2008 by a tribunal.

He won a fresh election and did one term before he was denied a second term ticket by the party, with Dickson preferred to him.

‘MA’AJI KEEPING MUM’

It is still unclear to investigators if Ma’aji was the mastermind of the foiled coup, but he is believed to have played a central role.

His major role, it was alleged, was to recruit junior officers.

But he is also accused of providing the funds and logistics, fuelling speculation that he might have been bankrolled by a politician or politicians with significant war chest.

Ma’aji served in the oil-rich Niger Delta region for years.

TheCable understands that he has refused to co-operate with investigators so far, preferring to keep mum on all the allegations.

Officers junior to him have made “significant statements” to the special investigative panel set up by the military authorities.

Forensics have been conducted on Ma’aji and his wife, with their Abuja house searched by the investigators.

A throve of information has reportedly been unearthed on the couple’s accounts and a number of landed property, military sources told TheCable.

WHO IS MOHAMMED MA’AJI?

Not much is known about the army officer from Niger state.

Ma’aji, born in 1976 to Nupe parents, was a member of regular course 47 of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

TheCable understands that he was commissioned in 2000 as a second lieutenant, rising through the ranks to become a colonel in 2017 after attending the Policy, Strategy and Leadership Course (PSLC) at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau state.

Ma’aji served as commanding officer (CO) of the 19 Battalion in Okitipupa, Ondo state, before was posted to Koko, headquarters of Warri North LGA, Delta state, in 2017.

In January 2021, he became the CO of Delta Safe following a transfer from the Depot, Nigerian Army, in Zaria.