Navy Commander Suleiman Saidu was appointed military governor of Rivers State

Rivers State

Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt. It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo, Abia and Anambra States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 from July 1978 to October 1979 during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, handing over power to the elected civilian governor Melford Obiene Okilo at the start of the Nigerian Second Republic

Nigerian Second Republic

The Second Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1979 and 1983 governed by the second republican constitution.- Founding :...

.
Rear Admiral Suleiman Saidu was confirmed by General Sani Abacha

Sani Abacha

General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....

 as Chief of Naval Staff in September 1993.
Later he was replaced by Rear Admiral Allison Madueke

Allison Madueke

Rear Admiral Allison Amaechina Madueke is a retired Nigerian naval officer. He was appointed military governor of Anambra State from January 1984 to August 1985, and then of Imo State until 1986.He later became Chief of Naval Staff.-Background:...

for the sake of ethnic balancing.