Military dictatorship in Nigeria

^a Formal name of the country from 24 May to 31 August 1966.
^b as Head of the Federal Military Government
^c as Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council
^d until 15 January 1970
^eBakassi peninsula; governed by Nigeria until 2008

The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there had been a series of military coups.