Olusegun Obasanjo

===Imprisonment: 1995–1998===
Obasanjo spent the next four months at the Ikoyi Centre, where he was initially chained up in solitary confinement.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=153}} He was then transferred to Lagos' main prison, [[Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison|Kirikiri]], where he spent time in the prison hospital for his hypertension and diabetes.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=154}} Conditions in Kirikiri were overcrowded and unsanitary, with Obasanjo stating that he "would not wish it on my worst enemy".{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=155}} There, Bello-Fadile apologised to Obasanjo for having implicated him, at which Obasanjo forgave him. A note written by Bello-Fadile explaining the situation was then smuggled out of the prison and published, helping to demonstrate Obasanjo's innocence.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=154}}

After several weeks, Obasanjo and the other alleged conspirators were moved to Jos prison in the central plateau, Plateau State where they spent several months. Obasanjo was initially given only the Bible and Quran to read, but gradually allowed a wider range of literature.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=154-155}} Writing material was also granted to him, allowing him to correspond with various people and institutions, and eventually Stella was permitted to visit him once a month.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=155-156}} Both Mandela and [[Pope John Paul II]] called for his release, with Indian and German foundations both awarding him international prizes.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=155}} The Africa Leadership Forum produced two volumes of letters and essays written in his honour; the Forum itself had been forced to relocate to Accra in Ghana to avoid persecution from Abacha's government.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|pp=155-156}}

In early 1996, Obasanjo was moved from Jos to the more remote prison at Yola, Adamawa State. There, he was allowed to cultivate a garden.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=156}} Obasanjo related that in prison he deepened his Christian faith and grew closer to God,{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=156}} becoming a [[born-again Christian]].{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=157}} From that point, Christianity played a much larger role in his personal world-view. At Yola, he preached 28 weekly sermons after visiting ministers were temporarily banned. He wrote these sermons down, allowing them to be published when he was released.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=157}} Obasanjo also tried to reform some of the younger prisoners, following up on their progress once he became a free man.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=158}} Obasanjo feared that he would be poisoned, particularly amid public speculation that Yar'adua's death had been caused by deliberate poisoning.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=160}}
Abacha died suddenly in June 1998, after which the military commanders appointed Major General Abdulsalami Abubakar as his successor. A week later, Abubakar ordered Obasanjo's release, sending a plane to return him to Ota.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=160}} Eager to return Nigeria to civilian rule, Abubakar dissolved the country's existing parties and institutions and announced a plan that would lead to a civilian president being installed in May 1999.{{sfn|Iliffe|2011|p=164}}