Civilian rule and Second Republic (1979–1983)

Main article: Second Nigerian Republic

Shehu Shagari was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria in the Second Nigerian
Republic from 1979 to 1983.

In 1977, a constituent assembly was elected to draft a new constitution, which was

published on September 21, 1978, when the ban on political activity was lifted. The military
carefully planned the return to civilian rule putting in place measures to ensure that political
parties had broader support than witnessed during the first republic. In 1979, five political
parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party
of Nigeria (NPN) was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National
Assembly. On October 1, 1979, Shehu Shagari was sworn in as the first President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obasanjo peacefully transferred
power to Shagari, becoming the first head of state in Nigerian history to willingly step down.
The Shagari government became viewed as corrupt by virtually all sectors of Nigerian
society. In 1983 the inspectors of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) began to notice "the slow poisoning of the waters of this country". [82][83] In August
1983 Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of
seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were
marred by violence and allegations of widespread vote rigging and electoral malfeasance
led to legal battles over the results. There were also uncertainties, such as in the first
republic, that political leaders may be unable to govern properly which would bring another
batch of new military rulers.
Military rule and Third Republic (1983–1999)
Main article: Third Nigerian Republic
Ibrahim Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993.

The 1983 military coup d'état took place on New Year's Eve of that year. It was coordinated
by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the overthrow of the Second Nigerian
Republic and the installation of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State. The
military coup of Muhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's re-election in 1984 was
generally viewed as a positive development.[84] Buhari promised major reforms, but his
government fared little better than its predecessor. His regime was overthrown by another
military coup in 1985.[85]
General Buhari was overthrown in 1985 military coup d'état led by General Ibrahim
Babangida, who established the Armed Forces Ruling Council and became military
president and commander in chief of the armed forces. In 1986, he established the Nigerian
Political Bureau of 1986 which made recommendations for the transition to the Third
Nigerian Republic. In 1989, Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third
Nigerian Republic. He legalized the formation of political parties, and formed the two-party
system with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC)
ahead of the 1992 general elections. He urged all Nigerians to join either of the parties,
which the late Chief Bola Ige famously referred to as "two leper hands." The two-party state
had been a Political Bureau recommendation. In November 1991, after a census was
conducted, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced on 24 January 1992 that
both legislative elections to a bicameral National Assembly and a presidential election
would be held later that year. A process of voting was adopted, referred to as Option A4.
This process advocated that any candidate needed to pass through adoption for all elective
positions from the local government, state government and federal government. [86]
Sani Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.

Babangida survived the 1990 Nigerian coup d'état attempt, then postponed a promised
return to democracy to 1992. The 1993 presidential election held on June 12, the first since
the military coup of 1983. The results though not officially declared by the National Electoral
Commission – showed the duo of Moshood Abiola and Babagana Kingibe of the Social
Democratic Party (SDP) defeated Bashir Tofa and Slyvester Ugoh of the National
Republican Convention (NRC) by over 2.3 million votes. However, Babangida annulled the
elections, leading to massive civilian protests that effectively shut down the country for
weeks. In August 1993, Babangida finally kept his promise to relinquish power to a civilian
government, but not before appointing Ernest Shonekan head of the Interim National
Government.[87] Babangida's regime has been considered the most corrupt, and responsible
for creating a culture of corruption in Nigeria. [88]
In late 1993, Shonekan's interim government, the shortest in the political history of the
country was overthrown in the 1993 military coup d'état led by General Sani Abacha, who
used military force on a wide scale to suppress the continuing civilian unrest. In 1995 the
government hanged environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa on trumped-up charges in the deaths
of four Ogoni elders. Lawsuits under the American Alien Tort Statute against Royal Dutch
Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of Shell's Nigerian operation, settled out of court with
Shell continuing to deny liability.[89] Several hundred million dollars in accounts traced to
Abacha were discovered in 1999.[90] The regime came to an end in 1998, when the dictator
died in the villa. He looted money to offshore accounts in western European banks and
defeated coup plots by arresting and bribing generals and politicians. His successor,
General Abdulsalami Abubakar, adopted a new constitution on 5 May 1999 which provided
for multiparty elections.
Democratization and Fourth Republic (1999–present)
Main article: Fourth Nigerian Republic
Olusegun Obasanjo was civilian President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007.

On 29 May 1999, Abubakar transferred power to the winner of the 1999 presidential

election, former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo as the second democratically
elected civilian President of Nigeria heralding the beginning of the Fourth Nigerian Republic.
[91]
 This ended almost 33 years of military rule from 1966 until 1999, excluding the short-
lived second republic (between 1979 and 1983) by military dictators who seized power
in coups d'état and counter-coups during the Nigerian military juntas of 1966–1979 and
1983–1999.
Although the elections that brought Obasanjo to power in the 1999 presidential election and
for a second term in the 2003 presidential election were condemned as unfree and unfair,
Nigeria has shown marked improvements in attempts to tackle government corruption and
hasten development.[92] Ethnic violence for control over the oil-producing Niger Delta region
and an insurgency in the North-East are some of the issues facing the country. Umaru
Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party came into power in the general election of 2007.
The international community, which had been observing Nigerian elections to encourage a
free and fair process, condemned this one as being severely flawed. [93] The then-
president, Olusegun Obasanjo, acknowledged fraud and other electoral "lapses" but said
the result reflected opinion polls. In a national television address in 2007, he added that if
Nigerians did not like the victory of his handpicked successor, they would have an
opportunity to vote again in four years.[94] Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010.  Goodluck
Jonathan was sworn in as Yar'Adua's successor,[95] becoming the 14th Head of State.[96]
[97]
 Goodluck Jonathan served as acting president of Nigeria until 16 April 2011, when a
new presidential election in Nigeria was conducted. He went on to win the elections, with
the international media reporting the elections as having run smoothly with relatively little
violence or voter fraud, in contrast to previous elections. [98]