Abuja - Nigeria's military ruler, Gen Sani Abacha, yesterday dissolved the government and announced he would free an undisclosed number of dissidents as the junta moves toward restoring civilian rule.
Gen Abacha's remarks came in a speech to the nation marking the fourth anniversary of his seizing power in Africa's most populous country. In his broadcast speech, Gen Abacha said he was dissolving the cabinet immediately and appointing a new one to run the country until next October when he has promised to step down and surrender power to an elected civilian president.
Nigeria's most prominent political prisoner, the opposition leader, Mr Moshood Abiola, is believed to have won the elections in 1993 staged and then annulled by Nigeria's then military ruler, Gen Ibrahim Babangida.
Gen Abacha also said criticism of Nigeria over its record on democracy and human rights was an example of rich countries meddling in the affairs of poor ones. He cited the case of the Commonwealth, which has suspended Nigeria's membership because of its human rights record. That punishment was originally imposed in November 1995 when the military junta executed Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and human rights activist, along with eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic group. They had been convicted of murdering rival members of their own group on what are widely dismissed as trumped-up charges.