General Sani Abacha

Whatever caused the death of gaoled Northern military politician Shehu Musa Yar'Adua on 9 December it has sent a powerful message that Northerners can expect no special favours from General Sani Abacha's military regime...

Urged on by General Sani Abacha's government Elf have started drilling a well on the disputed maritime border between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea...

The personality cult around General Sani Abacha is growing rapidly ahead of his expected candidacy in next August's presidential elections...

A new biography entitled – Sani Abacha – The Man the Myth is to be published this month: it follows the establishment of the Sani Abacha Foundation for National Reconciliation and Justice on 20 November and a series of pro-Abacha marches in state capitals...

It is too say General Sani Abacha's officials in Abuja proof of the Nigerian military's constructive attitude in the region...

Enough political leaders were present to make the summit look convincing but the absentees as well as Nigeria's General Sani Abacha Congo-Kinshasa's Laurent Kabila and Sudan's Omar el Beshir included Paul Biya of Cameroon (busy forming a government) Ben Mkapa of Tanzania (at his party's congress) and regional kingpins Daniel arap Moi of Kenya Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Nelson Mandela of South Africa...

The other significant comment came from Nigeria's Foreign Minister Tom Ikimi at Lagos Airport when he welcomed the Commonwealth's approach to General Sani Abacha's military government...

No one who has visited the Presidential complex at Aso Rock in recent weeks doubts that General Sani Abacha encouraged by his wife Maryam and his 'kitchen cabinet' intends to stand for the Presidency in next year's elections...

Liman Adelugba swiftly issued a clarification emphasising 'the army remains solidly loyal to the Head of State and the transition programme' and that 'the Nigerian army will stand by any person chosen by Nigerians to contest the Presidency including General Sani Abacha'...

Nobody knows whether General Sani Abacha will take off his uniform and try to win an election as his own civilian successor in August 1998...

Whatever is coming across would most likely be from private sources as General Sani Abacha's government beset by troubles at home and on its western flank has little interest in destabilising Biya...

Major Johnny Paul Koroma's junta is increasingly personalising what it calls its 'dispute' with General Sani Abacha...