The soldier and politician Muhammadu Buhari, who has died aged 82, was both military dictator and, three decades later, democratically elected president of Nigeria. His reputation as a no-nonsense general gained him lasting popularity, but also much criticism, with charges of repression and human rights abuses, as well as failure to tackle the economy or jihadist terrorism.
His election in 2015 was notable for being the first to unseat an incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan. However this success was also his fourth attempt. Buhari had secured millions of votes in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections, but fell short of the required voting margins partly because, as a Muslim from the north, who supported sharia law, he was unpopular in southern and central Nigeria.
