The 1985 Nigerian coup d'état was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

coup which took place in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

on 27 August 1985 when a faction of mid-level Armed Forces officers, led by the Chief of Army Staff Major-General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as C ...

, overthrew the government of Major General

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 A ...

(who himself took power in the 1983 coup d'état). Buhari was then detained in Benin City until 1988. Babangida justified the coup by saying that Buhari failed to deal with the country's economic problems by implementing

Buharism Buharism refers to the socio-political and economic ideology of Nigerian President and former military head of state Muhammadu Buhari. Following the 1983 Nigerian coup d'etat which truncated the Second Nigerian Republic, General Muhammadu Buh ...

, and promised "to rejuvenate the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

ravaged by decades of government mismanagement and corruption". Babangida then replaced the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC) with a new Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), which lasted until 1993. The regime survived a coup attempt in 1986 and 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985 Nigerian coup d'etat History of Nigeria Military coups in Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari 1985 in Nigeria August 1985 events in Nigeria 1980s coups d'état and coup attempts Conflicts in 1985