ABUJA – Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has thrown a legal spanner into the military’s plans to court-martial 16 officers accused of plotting to topple President Bola Tinubu, declaring the move unconstitutional.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, Falana argued that because the alleged plot targeted a democratically elected administration rather than a military junta, the suspects must be prosecuted in a civilian Federal High Court.
“The soldiers cannot be court-martialed; they are not trying to remove a military dictator,” Falana asserted. “It is an attempt to remove an elected government, a constitutional government, to disrupt the constitutional arrangement.”
The legal luminary explained that while a court-martial is designed for internal breaches of military discipline, treason against a civilian state is a constitutional crime that transcends the barracks. He warned that using a military tribunal to try an offense against the democratic order undermines the supremacy of the 1999 Constitution.
To bolster his argument, Falana cited the Second Republic precedent of the Mandara case, where a businessman was tried and convicted by a civilian High Court for inciting soldiers to overthrow the government of President Shehu Shagari. He noted that even with military involvement, the matter was handled by the regular judiciary, resulting in a 50-year sentence.
The intervention follows the Defence Headquarters’ (DHQ) shocking admission on Monday that a coup attempt had indeed been foiled four months ago—a report the military had previously dismissed as “rumour.” The DHQ has already identified the 16 officers and is reportedly finalising plans for their military trial.
Falana’s warning sets the stage for a potential legal showdown between the military hierarchy and human rights advocates over the proper jurisdiction for trying “crimes against the state” in a democratic era.
Will the Federal Government heed Falana’s warning and transfer the case to the Ministry of Justice, or will the military proceed with its high-stakes tribunal?
