How Nigeria appeared to have two presidents before Abacha, Babangida fell apart

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  • The late military historian Nowa Omoigui documented the power struggle between Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha following the foiled Gideon Orkar coup of 1990
  • Babangida’s newly released autobiography, A Journey in Service, blames “forces by Abacha” for the annulment of the June 12 presidential election in 1993
  • The rivalry between the two generals created the impression of two separate governments before they eventually fell apart

How Nigeria Appeared to Have Two Presidents Before Abacha and Babangida Fell ApartSource: Getty ImagesEarly signs of Abacha’s ambitionsParallel governmentsGeneral Abachas role in saving the Babangida regime in 1990 bought him huge stock, not only with Babangida himself but also with a significant number of other IBB Boys. It marked the beginning of the rise of Sani Abacha and the beginnings of his own independent client network, separate from the umbilical cord that tied him into the maternal Babangida bandwagon. His own independent network would later become known as Abacha Boys, based mainly, but not exclusively, around officers from the Kano area.After a lull during which Babangida was very nervous and lacked confidence, he later resumed the old plan to replace Abacha as Chief of Army Staff. In September 1990, after two batches of executions of Orkar coup convicts had been carried out, Babangida ceded his position as Minister of Defence to General Abacha who was to combine it with his position as Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some observers feel that an unwritten part of this new arrangement was that Abacha would be left alone to do as he pleased with defence funds while Babangida ran the rest of the government. To crystallize the new space created for General Abacha as the Defence Czar, he stayed behind in Lagos when Babangida moved to the new capital of Abuja in 1991. It was as if the country had two governments.IBB mentions reason for overthrowing Buhari

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