According to the Court-Martial President, defence counsel filed and adopted their written addresses on May 19, 2026, after which the Judge Advocate advised the tribunal on the applicable law and procedure.
Allegations of bias and controversy have emerged at the ongoing General Court-Martial trying 36 Nigerian military personnel over an alleged plot to overthrow the President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The controversy stems from reports that the President of the court-martial declared that a prima facie case had already been established against the defendants, despite the prosecution not having called a single witness or tendered any evidence before the court.
The development has raised serious concerns among defence lawyers, who accused the military tribunal of prejudging the case and demanded that the panel recuse itself from further proceedings.
SaharaReporters gathered that the officers and soldiers were arrested, detained and subsequently arraigned before a general court-martial over allegations that they participated in a conspiracy between January 2022 and November 2025 in Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu to overthrow the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
