Olusegun Obasanjo

Obasanjo handed Nigeria's military government over to elected president Shehu Shagari in October 1979. That fulfilled a transition timetable through an actual transfer of office, not merely a promise to organise elections. The Second Republic was nevertheless overthrown by another military coup in 1983, showing that one commander's departure did not settle civilian supremacy. Obasanjo later returned as an elected civilian president in 1999, a distinct role from the outgoing general considered here.