An extensive security review ordered after the failed September 2025 coup plot may have influenced President Bola Tinubu’s decision to expand the Nigerian Army with four additional divisions, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.
Some senior military officers, who spoke to our correspondents, said the reforms were designed to strengthen constitutional order and make any future unconstitutional takeover far more difficult.
The proposed expansion will increase the Army’s field divisions from eight to 12 and provide for the recruitment of an additional 28,000 personnel.
A senior military intelligence operative, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, disclosed that intelligence assessments conducted after the September 2025 failed coup plot significantly influenced the ongoing reforms within the security architecture.
According to him, security planners concluded that preventing future unconstitutional attempts to seize power required strengthening and improving the military’s operational capabilities.
