Recounts the turbulent days after Abacha’s demise, says death stopped Abacha from retiring him
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), has revealed that the late General Sani Abacha was planning a major reshuffle of the military high command before his sudden death in June 1998.
He also explained why installing the winner of the 12 June 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, as president when he assumed office was far more complicated than many Nigerians believed.
In excerpts from his autobiography Call to Duty, Abdulsalami recounted that on 7 June 1998, a day before Abacha’s death, the Head of State summoned him and informed him of plans to reorganise the Service Chiefs, asking him to recommend officers for the positions.
According to him, he declined the request, reminding Abacha that on a previous occasion he had sought his advice on appointments only to ignore his recommendations.
He said Abacha subsequently began mentioning names himself and unexpectedly asked who should succeed him as Chief of Defence Staff, a development he interpreted as a sign that he was about to be retired after nearly 35 years in service.
“That meant I was going to be retired. There was no other way to interpret that,” he wrote.
The former military ruler said he neither sought explanations nor asked about his own fate, leaving the issue entirely in Abacha’s hands.
The Day Abacha Died
The following morning, he said he received an urgent summons to the Presidential Villa and initially feared he was being assigned to represent Abacha at an ECOWAS summit in Togo. In his haste, he left home in a tracksuit and slippers.
On arrival, he found Major-General Ishaya Bamaiyi already waiting. Both men were later shocked to discover that they had been locked inside the waiting room.
After some time, the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Coomassie, arrived and informed them that Abacha had died.
Abdulsalami said he proceeded to the late ruler’s residence, where he personally saw the body, prayed for him and joined other top officials, including then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, and former Foreign Affairs Minister, Babagana Kingibe, in discussions on the way forward.
According to him, Justice Uwais advised that a new Head of State be chosen first to avoid a vacuum before the death was publicly announced.
Arrangements were also made for Abacha’s burial in Kano.
Succession Crisis and Internal Power Struggles
Abdulsalami disclosed that some members of what he described as an “inner caucus” were more interested in who would succeed the late ruler than in preparations for his burial.
“Little did we know that the ‘inner caucus’ had their plans, and the burial was just a decoy to perfect whatever they had up their sleeves. While we were in Kano, they were already preparing to swear in their preferred choice,” he wrote.
