- Tenure
- 1976 — 1979
- Era
- Civil War & First Military Era (1966 — 1979)
- Mode of entry
- Succeeded Murtala as Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters
- Mode of exit
- Handed over to elected civilians on 1 October 1979
- Spouse
- Stella Obasanjo (i) · 1976 — 1979
Completed Murtala's transition programme. Universal Primary Education (1976). Land Use Act (1978). 1979 Constitution. First African military ruler to voluntarily hand over to elected civilians.
Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo (b. 1937, Abeokuta) was Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters under Murtala and became Head of State on 14 February 1976, the day after Murtala's assassination. He completed every element of Murtala's announced transition: the Constitution Drafting Committee under Chief F.R.A. Williams, the 1977 Constituent Assembly, party registration, and elections in mid-1979.
On 1 October 1979 he handed over executive power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari — the first African military ruler to give up power voluntarily to an elected civilian. He retired to his farm at Otta and would re-emerge as elected civilian President twenty years later (see Era VI).
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.