29-478: The Interim National Government was the short-lived civilian administration that governed Nigeria, following the crisis of the Third Republic . The largely powerless and illegitimate government was dissolved when General Sani Abacha seized power on 17 November 1993. 12 June 1993 presidential election was won by Moshood Abiola . General Babangida annulled the election.This led to rioting, particularly in
58-637: A Yoruba businessman and the head of IBB's transition team, assumed the office of the presidency as the head of the interim national government. Shonekan was unable to manage the political turmoil which ensued in the post IBB months. Shonekan's caretaker government was quietly removed from office by Minister of Defence , General Sani Abacha on 17 November 1993. On 11 June 1994, president-elect Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola declared himself president and went into hiding. The Abacha administration hunted Abiola down and arrested him on charges of treason . Abiola remained in prison until he died in 1998. Following
87-624: A democratically elected civilian government on 29 May 1999. General Abubakar did good on his word and organised a rapid transition. Politicking began and two major political parties were formed; the People's Democratic Party and the All People's Party . Elections were held the following February between Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP and Olu Falae of the APP in which Obasanjo was declared winner with 63% of
116-481: A democratically elected president and so while he continued to postpone the presidential election, he lobbied the National Assembly to recognise him as the country's legitimate president while keeping their jobs or risk the entire collapse of the Third Republic which was inevitable after all. [REDACTED] Note: while the legislators were entitled to a four year tenure, their term was cut short by
145-479: A protégé of Abiola as senator for Lagos West senatorial constituency and Chuba Okadigbo a philosopher and a former Senate President in the Fourth Nigerian Republic as senator for Anambra North senatorial constituency. Informal sources alleged that while General Babangida wanted a legislature to give the government the facade of a representative democracy, he never intended to cede power to
174-593: A protégé of Abiola took office as the 16th president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after a very closely fought election. Tinubu, a former senator in Abiola's days (1992–1993) and a two term Governor of Lagos State in the Fourth Nigerian Republic (1999–2007) is a Yoruba statesman and political mentor whose influence on South-West politics is second only to Chief Obafemi Awolowo 's. National Republican Convention The National Republican Convention
203-656: A timetable for return to democracy and for withdrawal of Nigeria's contingent from the ECOMOG preackeeping force in Liberia. He also launched an audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation , the largest oil company, and tried to restore civil liberties. Shonekan managed to remove laws that allowed arbitrary arrest and confiscation of property, promoted press freedom, obtained the release of some political prisoners and made reforms to
232-576: A very trustworthy negotiator and arbiter between conflicting parties in the Nigerian polity. In June 2018, president Muhammadu Buhari moved democracy day from 29 May to 12 June in recognition of the gross injustice against MKO Abiola which effectively led to his martyrdom. also the National Stadium Abuja was renamed MKO Abiola Stadium in his honour. On 29 May 2023 just 14 days short of three decades after 12 June, Bola Ahmed Tinubu
261-656: The National Assembly limited legislative powers. Hence all laws passed by the Senate and House of Representatives will have to pass the National Defence and Security Council of Nigeria and finally approved by the President. So while Babangida changed the usual style adopted by preceding military leaders from Head of State to president, he will continue to postpone presidential elections and eventually annul
290-405: The Third Republic, there were democratically elected state governors and state assemblies and a democratically elected federal legislature (National Assembly). The republic was however not fully democratic as there was no democratically elected civilian president. The then military president Ibrahim Babangida 's supposed transition eventually turned out to be a ploy to keep executive powers and grant
319-506: The basis for the 1989 Nigerian Constitution on which the republic was based. The 1989 Constitution was based on the 1979 Constitution ( Second Nigerian Republic ) albeit with some amendments. At the peak of the Sani Abacha junta (1 June 1995), she was arrested and tried by a special military tribunal in connection with a coup to overthrow the military government and sentenced to life in solitary confinement (later commuted to 15 years). She
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#1732775687663348-584: The corrupt public services and state-owned companies. No clear process was given for holding fresh elections, and there was general political uncertainty under the Shonekan government. The ING faced media campaigns against the delay in returning to democracy and the continued involvement of the military in politics. The government was opposed by pro-democracy activists, civil society organisations, labour unions and students. The Lagos high court nullified Shonekan's appointment and called for Abiola to be sworn in as
377-565: The country into chaos. "Many Yoruba have long resented the domination of Nigeria's political life by the mostly northern Hausa-Fulani ethnic group , and were ecstatic when one of their own, Mr. Abiola, appeared to have won the recent balloting", commented the New York Times . The United Kingdom responded to the announcement by freezing aid and withdrawing military assistance. IBB eventually bowed to pressure from his inner circle and resigned from office on 23 August 1993. Ernest Shonekan ,
406-425: The decision to annul the election as unfortunate given its consequences. But he still believes he did the right thing, he said, because he had specific information about plans to overthrow the Abiola government and it seemed pointless to turn the country over to civilian rule if there would be a military coup within months. He acknowledged the irony of the Sani Abacha coup in the light of this claim but maintained that
435-546: The dissolution of the Third Republic on 17 November 1993. The Third Nigerian Republic had only one female senator in the person of Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele of Lagos Central The following is a full list of the democratically elected members of the National Assembly in the Third Nigerian Republic as documented by ace journalist, author and publisher Chris Anyanwu . In her book entitled the 'Law Makers 1992–1996' Federal Republic of Nigeria, Anyanwu provides
464-505: The elected candidate for the presidency. General Sani Abacha forced Shonekan to resign on 17 November 1993, and as the most senior military officer took over as head of state. The ministers initially announced were: The final list of members was: Third Nigerian Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1992 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution . In
493-434: The electoral umpire. The list as consistent with the 1989 constitution, is based on 30 states as was obtainable under the presidency of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida . The Sani Abacha junta will go on to create the six more states of Bayelsa , Ebonyi , Ekiti , Gombe , Nassarawa and Zamfara states. Hence the 1989 constitution is different from the 1999 constitution of the Fourth Nigerian Republic largely due to
522-476: The later appearance of these states. The 3 senators per state rule was sustained while the various House of Representatives constituencies were expanded (many comprising at least 2 local government areas) with the exception of just a few constituencies. The total number of senators was thus upped to 108 plus the FCT making 109 and representatives reduced to 360. On 23 June 1993, IBB had the election annulled. This threw
551-509: The military overthrow of the civilian government that succeeded him was precisely the outcome he had been trying to avoid. The federal legislators were however luckier as after a series of procrastinations by president Babangida following the 4 July 1992 legislative elections, the Third National Assembly was eventually inaugurated on 5 December 1992. It was the same election that produced president Bola Ahmed Tinubu then
580-795: The party and its competitor, the Social Democratic Party , another government created party. Both parties were under the supervision of the military government and most of its presidential candidates favored a continuation of the Structural Adjustment Programme of the Babangida administration. The party was largely an amalgamation of three major organizations, the Liberal Convention, the Nigeria National Congress and
609-506: The protests and unrest of 12 June 1993 election annulment, the internment of MKO Abiola , and his eventual demise in 1998 (same year of Abacha's death) the political landscape of the Nigerian nation has never been the same. When Abacha suddenly died, General Abdulsalami Abubakar from Niger State in North-Central Nigeria took over the reins of power. He quickly announced that the military government will hand over power to
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#1732775687663638-714: The south, which was harshly suppressed. Babangida announced that he would step down on 26 August 1993, and handed over to Ernest Shonekan as head of the Interim National Government (ING) on 27 August 1993. Shoenkan had a degree in law, had studied at the Harvard Business School in the US, and had held senior management positions in various companies. He was an Oloye of the Yoruba people and had been president of Babangida's Transitional Council. He
667-680: The spring of 1989, IBB lifted the ban on political activity, which had been in place since the coup of 1983. The conference established two political parties: the center-right National Republican Convention (NRC) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SDP). The parties were required to draw from a national rather than regional or tribal basis. Gubernatorial and state legislative elections were conducted in December 1991. The civilian governors and parliamentarians elected in this balloting took office in January 1992. The presidential election
696-416: The ultimate one held on 12 June 1993. The Third Republic can thus be described as half military and half civilian. The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989 being the climax of the workings of a constituent assembly. General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), the military head of state at the time, promised to end military rule by 1990. This date was subsequently pushed forward to 1993. In
725-434: The vote. On the 29 of May 1999, former Head of State and President-elect General Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn into office ushering in the Fourth Nigerian Republic . IBB however has remained hugely unpopular since he left the presidency even in the northern part of the nation where he comes from. He tried to take another shot at the presidency but failed to gain popular support. Abdulsalami Abubakar has taken centre stage as
754-399: Was a Nigerian political party established by the government of General Ibrahim Babangida and ultimately disbanded by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1993. The party was organized to cater to the conservative leanings of some Nigerians, it flourished in the core northern states and Eastern states of Abia and Enugu . However, many felt there was little difference between
783-557: Was an unelected technocrat chosen in a deal between Babangida and political leaders, and his appointment was poorly received by the press and the public. Shonekan appointed Moshood Abiola as his vice-president. General Sani Abacha was made secretary of defence in the cabinet. Under the ING the country suffered runaway inflation and saw strikes by workers in various sectors. Most foreign investors withdrew apart from oil companies. Shonekan made efforts to have government debt forgiven. He drew up
812-535: Was later released in 1998 on Abacha 's death. Anyanwu will herself later become a two term Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2007–2015) representing Imo East senatorial constituency. There are 91 Distinguished Senators and 593 Honourable Members of the House of Representatives of the Third Nigerian Republic in the list. 2 senatorial seats and 4 House of Representative seats were declared vacant by
841-741: Was postponed until 12 June 1993 due to political unrest. MKO Abiola , a wealthy Yoruba businessman, won a decisive victory in the presidential elections on the SDP platform, defeating Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. Abiola won even in his northern opponent's home state. Abiola won in the Federal capital, Abuja , the military polling stations, and in over two-thirds of Nigerian states. Men of northern descent largely dominated Nigeria's political landscape after independence. IBB said years later that he now regards
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