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Babangida promised a return of democracy when he seized power, but he ruled Nigeria for eight years, when he temporarily handed power to an interim head of state, Ernest Shonekan, in August 1993. [8] In 1993, General Sani Abacha overthrew the Interim National Government and appointed himself Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council of Nigeria.
Between 1966 and 1999, Nigeria was ruled by a military government without interruption, apart from a short-lived return to democracy under the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983. [1] However, the most recent coup occurred in 1993, and there have been no significant further attempts under the Fourth Republic, which restored multi-party democracy in ...
Tensions between the civilian and military aspects of Nigerian government were escalating. One major incident was when General Muhammadu Buhari, the commanding officer of the 3rd Division, cut off fuel and food supplies into neighboring Chad, an action caused by border disputes between Nigeria and Chad that was opposed by President Shehu Shagari.
In 2018 Muhammadu Buhari, now a civilian president of Nigeria under its Fourth Republic, declared 12 June – the date of the annulled 1993 election as the new date for the celebration of Democracy Day. [15] The previous Democracy Day was 29 May, the date of the return to civilian rule in May 1999 following Abacha's regime. [16]
Nigeria democratized in 1999 with the start of the Fourth Republic, but has suffered some setbacks to becoming fully democratic. [68] Elites in Nigeria have been found to have more power and influence than average citizens, and as a consequence of this, there has been a great deal of corruption in Nigerian politics and general life. [68]
The political unrest during the mid-1960s culminated into Nigeria's first military coup d'état.On 15 January 1966, Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his fellow rebel soldiers (most of whom were of southern extraction) and were led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna of the Nigerian Army, executed a bloody takeover of all institutions of government.
This is a list of coups d'état and coup attempts by country, listed in chronological order. A coup is an attempt to illegally overthrow a country's government. Scholars generally consider a coup successful when the usurpers are able to maintain control of the government for at least seven days.
Following the death of the military dictator and de facto ruler of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha in 1998, his successor General Abdulsalami Abubakar initiated the transition which heralded Nigeria's return to democratic rule in 1999. The ban on political activities was lifted, and political prisoners were released from detention facilities.