He served as interim Deputy Prime Minister of Libya from 22 November 2011 to 14 November 2012 in Abdurrahim El-Keib's cabinet[1] and was briefly elected to succeed El-Keib as Prime Minister in 2012, before failing to receive congressional approval for his cabinet nominees and being removed from office.

When he was a few years old, his family moved to the western mountain city of Gharyan, where they resided for sometime before returning to Souq Al-Jumuah in Tripoli.

While working in the ECE department, he proposed a plan to start an optical engineering undergraduate program.

During his time at UAH, Abushagur received multiple research awards and grants from several federal agencies, such as NASA, NSF, DoD and the FAA.

[6][7] In 2002, Abushagur was the founding director of the PhD program in microsystems engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

[6] In 2013, he received the Optical Society of America's Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award for his "leadership in education and entrepreneurship, which led to establishment of important programs, institutions and companies devoted to developing optics in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa.

In 1980, Abushagur made his final visit to Libya to say farewell to his family before his Gaddafi opposition group started to openly oppose the regime.

The failed attempt resulted in the execution of many of the Libyan dissidents who had studied in the United States, while many others were arrested.

At the beginning of the 17 February Revolution, the National Transitional Council (NTC) began appointing representatives from the districts and cities of western Libya in an effort to create a unified front for the entire country against Gaddafi.

Abushagur joined the delegation representing the west, central and south of Libya to Benghazi to show their support for the NTC.

For the formal announcement of the NTC representatives in May 2011, Abushagur flew to Benghazi and set foot on Libyan soil for the first time in nearly thirty-two years.

Two days after being named Deputy Prime Minister, he took his oath of allegiance, which stated: "I swear by Almighty God to perform my duties honestly and faithfully, to stay faithful to the objectives of the Seventeenth of February Revolution, to respect the constitutional declaration and bylaws of the Council, to carefully honor the interests of the Libyan people and to safeguard the independence of Libya, its security and its territorial integrity.

[2] While Abushagur was widely referred to as Libya's prime minister, he was never actually sworn in as he was not able to win approval from the GNC for his cabinet proposals.

On the submission of his second cabinet proposal, he made an impassioned speech calling on Congress members to reject alleged partisanship and unite in support of his government.

[33] On the early afternoon of 29 July 2014, Abushagur was kidnapped from his home in Hay al-Andalus by an armed group, who were travelling in several vehicles, including an unmarked ambulance.

Abushagur claimed that he was freed after another Zintani suddenly released him, and stated that he was still unsure of the reasons for his abduction.