The longest and most expensive military transition programme in Nigeria was under

Analyze the question: It asks which military regime ran the longest and most costly transition-to-civil-rule programme in Nigeria's history.

Key concept: Nigeria's military regimes each promised a return to civilian rule, but the durations differed a lot:

• Gowon (1966-1975): He announced a 1976 handover date, then declared it unrealistic in 1974. He was overthrown in 1975 before any real programme took shape.
• Murtala/Obasanjo (1975-1979): They ran a transition of about 3 years and 5 months, and handed over to Shehu Shagari on 1 October 1979. It was well organised and relatively short.
• Abdulsalami Abubakar (1998-1999): His programme took only about 11 months, and he handed over to Obasanjo on 29 May 1999.
• Babangida (1985-1993): His transition programme was announced in 1985 and kept being extended, from 1990 to 1992 and then to 1993. It lasted about 8 years.

Step-by-step solution:

1. Compare the lengths. Babangida's programme was by far the longest, at roughly 8 years.
2. Look at the cost. It involved: • Creating new bodies such as the National Electoral Commission (NEC), the Directorate of Social Mobilisation (MAMSER), and the Centre for Democratic Studies. • Creating two government-imposed parties, the SDP and NRC. • Multiple rounds of party primaries, elections, bans and un-bans of politicians, and repeated changes to the timetable.
3. The programme ended with the annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential election, which was widely believed to have been won by M.K.O. Abiola. This left the huge expenditure wasted.

Answer: The longest and most expensive military transition programme was under General Ibrahim Babangida, which is option D.

Exam tip: Link "Babangida" with "Big, Bungled, and Bottomless", meaning the longest, most expensive, and ultimately failed (annulled) transition. When you see "longest" or "most expensive" transition in a JAMB question, think of IBB and June 12.