- Tenure
- July 1975 — February 1976
- Era
- Civil War & First Military Era (1966 — 1979)
- Mode of entry
- Coup against Gowon (29 July 1975)
- Mode of exit
- Assassinated 13 February 1976 by Lt-Col. Buka Suka Dimka
- Spouse
- Ajoke Muhammed · 1975 — 1976
Civil-service purges ('Murtala broom'). Capital relocation to Abuja announced. The most-celebrated short tenure in Nigerian political history; assassinated after 200 days.
Brigadier (later General) Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938–1976), a Hausa-Fulani officer from Kano who had commanded the 2nd Division in the Biafran War, became Head of State on 29 July 1975. His administration retired more than 10,000 public officers (officers of the army, civil servants, judges, vice-chancellors) within months in a purge known as the 'Murtala broom'.
He announced the move of the Federal Capital from Lagos to a new city to be built in the geographic centre — Abuja — and chaired the OAU's January 1976 summit at Addis Ababa where his speech 'Africa has come of age' rebuked the United States for its African policy. He was assassinated by gunfire at the Federal Secretariat in Lagos on the morning of 13 February 1976 in the abortive coup led by Lt-Col. Buka Suka Dimka. His face is on the ₦20 note.
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.