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Sani Abacha GCFR ((listen ⓘ); (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron-fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. [1] [2] Abacha's seizure of power was the last successful coup d'état in Nigerian military history.
Moshood Abiola died unexpectedly, shortly after the death of General Abacha, on the day that he was due to be released. [55] While meeting group of American diplomats including Thomas Pickering and Susan Rice at a government guesthouse in Abuja, Abiola fell ill and died. Rice had served tea to Abiola shortly before his collapse; despite ...
General Sani Abacha died on 8 June 1998, following his death al-Mustapha assembled the military hierarchy in order to avoid a succession crisis. General Abdulsalam Abubakar emerged as head of state on 9 June 1998 and al-Mustapha was removed from office and subsequently arrested. [5]
Abacha ruled Africa's most populous nation and top oil exporter from 1993 until his death in 1998, during which time Transparency International estimated that he took up to $5 billion of public money.
Abacha dissolved the legislature, as well as the state and local governments, and replaced the elected civilian state governors with military and police officers. [6] [12] He also banned all political activities. [6] Abacha established two governing institutions - the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) and Federal Executive Council. [7]
Abacha, who was himself appointed head of state a decade later, was said to have played "a key role" in the coup. [17] The sole reported casualty occurred when Brigadier Ibrahim Bako was killed in a fire fight during Shagari's arrest in Abuja. [18] Major General Muhammed Buhari was installed as head of state. [19] [20]
The 1993 Nigerian coup d'état was a bloodless military coup which took place in Nigeria on 17 November 1993 [1] when the Armed Forces, headed by Defence Minister General Sani Abacha, forced Interim President Chief Ernest Shonekan to resign. [2]
General Sani Abacha became head of state in Nigeria after a coup in November 1993 that ended the Nigerian Third Republic. He dismissed the elected civilian governors and placed a military Administrator in charge of each state. In 1996 he created a number of new states: Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Gombe and Ekiti.