National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1960)
Executive branch: president of the Armed Forces Ruling Council,
Armed Forces Ruling Council, National Council of State, Council of
Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: National Assembly was dissolved after the military coup of 31 December 1983
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government—President and Commander in
Chief of Armed Forces Gen. Ibrahim BABANGIDA (since 27 August 1985)
Political parties and leaders: two political parties established by the government in 1989—Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC)
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
President—scheduled for 1 October 1992
Communists: the pro-Communist underground consists of a small fraction of the Nigerian left; leftist leaders are prominent in the country's central labor organization but have little influence on government
Member of: ACP, AfDB, APC, CCC, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO,
G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMO, IMF,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat
Council, Lake Chad Basin Commission, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU,
OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO