His rule drew disrepute to the country with Nigeria becoming a pariah state in international relations particularly with regards to the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

[6][7][8][9][10] Abacha's death on 8 June 1998 brought about the Nigerian Fourth Republic a year later and he was succeeded as Nigeria's head of state by General Abdulsalami Abubakar.

[23] In his nationwide broadcast, Abacha portrayed the overthrow as an act of stability brought about through the socio-political uncertainties caused by the 1993 presidential election.

The state cracked down ruthlessly on criminals and dissidents, the National Democratic Coalition was charged with responsibility for a number of bombings across the country, and several of its members were arrested.

[29] Also, former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo was jailed for treason and accused of plotting a coup together with General Oladipo Diya.

Abacha's regime was accused of human rights abuses, especially after the hanging of Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa (only one of several executions of Ogoni activists opposed to the exploitation of Nigerian resources by the multinational petroleum company, Royal Dutch Shell), whose death later led to the eviction of Nigeria from the Commonwealth Nations.

[32][33] Abacha also constructed between 25 and 100 km of urban road in major cities such as Kano, Gusau, Benin, Funtua, Zaria, Enugu, Kaduna, Aba,[34] Lagos, Lokoja and Port Harcourt.

[35] Abacha brought the privatisation programs of the Ibrahim Babangida administration to a halt, reduced an inflation rate of 54% inherited from Ernest Shonekan to 8.5% between 1993 and 1998, all while the nation's primary commodity, oil was at an average of $15 per barrel.

[36] The unprecedented economic achievements coincided with the rapid expansion of embezzlement hitherto unseen in the history of corruption in Nigeria[37] in the alleged saga known as "Abacha loot".

[38] Abacha's national security adviser, Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo, was accused by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo to have played a central role in the looting and transfer of money to overseas accounts.

[43] On 7 August 2014, the United States Department of Justice announced the forfeiture of US$480 million, the largest in its history, to the Nigerian government.

In 2019, more than 20 years after his death the U.S. Justice Department, Jersey courts and the government of Nigeria completed a civil asset forfeiture against the funds and they will be divided between those countries.

Early in 1998, Abacha announced that elections would be held on 1 August, with a view toward handing power to a civilian government on 1 October.

Through the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group, Abacha sent troops to Liberia to fight against the rising insurgency in the country.

In 1997, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) travelled to Nigeria to meet with Abacha as a representative of the "Family", a group of evangelical Christian politicians and civic leaders.

[57][58] Abacha also developed ties with other American political figures such as Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-Illinois) Rev.

[67] After Abacha's death, General Abdulsalami Abubakar became head of state, whose short tenure ushered in the Fourth Nigerian Republic.