He ran as an Independent, despite being a member of the General People's Congress, against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
[5] Shaabi was born in 1953 in Shaab, a village in Tur Al Bahah district, Lahij Governorate.
He was named after Mohamed Naguib, the Egyptian general who led the country after the revolution in 1952.
[2] Shaabi later moved to Egypt and enrolled in Cairo University, graduating from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences in 1976.
He supported the Yemeni government during the civil war of 1994, receiving the Unity Medal for his dedication.