First broadcast as Head of State — 'a transition we shall honour'

Abubakar's first broadcast after the death of Sani Abacha that morning. He inherited the discredited five-party self-succession transition and within a month scrapped it, replacing it with the timetable that produced the Fourth Republic.

Speech · synthesised reading

First broadcast as Head of State — 'a transition we shall honour'

Major-General Abdulsalami Abubakar · Aso Rock, Abuja

0:000:00

Fellow Nigerians: it is with a deep sense of grief that I announce the sudden death of the Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Sani Abacha, in the early hours of today, the 8th of June 1998.

The Provisional Ruling Council has met and I have been sworn in as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. This is a difficult time for our country. I appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm and to support the transition to democratic rule.

Let me assure you and the international community: it is a transition we shall honour. The military will return to barracks. Power will be handed over to a democratically elected civilian government on the 29th of May 1999.