, right at the height of Abacha's dictatorship government's success/corruption. Just as Abacha slowly killed or refused freedom of his enemies, his oppressor, his physical limitations, did the same to him. On June 15, 1998, General/President Abacha died of an unforeseen heart attack, once again leaving the country without a leader, so the Provisional Ruling Council immediately swore in General Abdusalam Abubakar, with hopes that he would fulfill the unfinished duties of Abachar. However, General Abubakar didn't find himself fit for the job, at least not as fit as a honestly elected President, so right off the bat, he scheduled civilian government elections, for summer of the following year. Though Abiola (who won elections back in 1993, until Babangida imprisoned him) was to soon be released from prison, and once again run for office, he died a few months before he got his chance.On May 29th of 1999, former leader of Nigeria (the one who restored civilian rule for the second republic), General Olusegun Obasanjo, became the first president of the Third Republic of Nigeria, and the first elected president to take office since 1983. The president is the head of the government, and the chief of state, and just like in the American system, cannot hold more than two terms, of four years each; Obasanjo is currently president until the next elections, in an undeclared month in 2003. The president's cabinet is called the Federal Executive Council, which consists of 28 different departments, such as defense, agriculture and employment (just like the U.S.), each one overseen by some appointed minister. The Nigerian government is a "civilian government devised by the present Federal Military Government (FMG) in which the President has final say over any democratic decisions made." (Oduaran and Okukpon, 1997), which is divided up into three branches: the Executive, legislative, and the Judicial.The legislative branch of the Nigerian governmen...
