Nigeria

=== Second Republic and military dictatorship ===
{{main|Second Nigerian Republic|Military dictatorship in Nigeria}}
The military carefully planned the return to civilian rule putting in place measures to ensure that political parties had broader support than witnessed during the first republic. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which Alhaji [[Shehu Shagari]] of the [[National Party of Nigeria]] (NPN) was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National Assembly. On 1 October 1979, Shehu Shagari was sworn in as the first [[President of Nigeria|President and Commander-in-Chief]] of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obasanjo peacefully transferred power to Shagari, becoming the first head of state in Nigerian history to willingly step down.[[File:Shehu Shagari 1980-10-07.jpg|thumb|[[Shehu Shagari]] was the first  elected [[President of Nigeria]] from 1979 to 1983.|upright]]The Shagari government became viewed as corrupt by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. In 1983, the inspectors of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation began to notice "the slow poisoning of the waters of this country".<ref>David Williams, ''President and power in Nigeria: The life of Shehu Shagari'' (Routledge, 2018).</ref> In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence, and allegations of widespread vote-rigging and electoral malfeasance led to legal battles over the results. There were also uncertainties, such as in the first republic, that political leaders may be unable to govern properly.

The [[1983 Nigerian coup d'état|1983 military coup d'état]] was coordinated by key officers of the Nigerian military and led to the overthrow of the government and the installation of Major General [[Muhammadu Buhari]] as head of state. The military coup of Muhammadu Buhari shortly after the regime's re-election in 1984 was generally viewed as a positive development.<ref>"Nigeria, Military Faces Daunting Challenges", AP Press International, 3{{nbsp}}March 1984. Retrieved 22 February 2007.</ref> In 1985, [[Ibrahim Babangida]] overthrew Buhari in a coup d'état. In 1986, Babangida established the [[Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986|Nigerian Political Bureau]] which made recommendations for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. In 1989, Babangida started making plans for the transition to the Third Nigerian Republic. Babangida survived the [[1990 Nigerian coup d'état attempt]], then postponed a promised return to democracy to 1992.<ref>{{Citation |last=Siollun |first=Max |title=Civil Military Affairs and Military Culture in Post-Transition Nigeria |date=2018-10-25 |work=The Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics |pages=272–287 |editor1-last=Levan |editor1-first=Carl |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198804307.013.13 |isbn=978-0-19-880430-7 |editor2-last=Ukata |editor2-first=Patrick}}</ref>