g Council and
Commander in Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Abdulsalam ABUBAKAR (since 9
June 1998); note-the chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council is
both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council and
Commander in Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Abdulsalam ABUBAKAR (since 9
June 1998); note-the chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council is
both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Federal Executive Council (chaired by the Chairman of the
Provisional Ruling Council)
elections: none; on 9 June 1998, the Provisional Ruling Council
appointed Gen. Abdulsalam ABUBAKAR as their new Chairman to replace
Gen. Sani ABACHA who died in office; Gen. ABUBAKAR immediately pledged
a program to return the government to civilian rule as promised by
Gen. ABACHA

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly, comprising a
109-member Senate and a 360-member House of Representatives
note: the National Assembly was suspended after the military takeover
of 17 November 1993; in October 1995, the government announced a
three-year program for transition to civilian rule; elections to the
National Assembly took place 25 April 1998 for a term starting 1
October 1998; the election was substantially boycotted by the
opposition and the legislature is unlikely to be representative of the
electorate

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the Provisional
Ruling Council; Federal Court of Appeal, judges are appointed by the
federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee

Political parties and leaders: political party system, which was
suspended after the military takeover of 17 November 1993, was
reestablished by the Provisional Ruling Council on 30 September 1996
with the registration of five of 15 competing political parties; these
were the United Nigeria Congress Party or UNCP [Isa MOHAMMED,
chairman]; National Center Party of Nigeria or NCPN [Magaji ABDULLAHI,
chairman]; Grassroots Democratic Movement or GDM [Alhaji Gambo LAWAN,
chairman]; Committee for National Consensus or CNC [Barnabas GEMADE,
chairman]; Democratic Party of Nigeria or DPN [Saleh HASSAN, chairman]

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C (suspended),
CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUA, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN,