A few months to the elections, and with much tension in the land, a pastor called a press conference in which he asked Nigerians not to demonstrate against the planned election. He said God had told him that Abacha will not succeed in transiting to a civilian hea of state, that Abacha would step aside 'under mysterious circumstances', so that the 'Joseph' from God would take over. This was published in the Punch newspapers.
Abacha died in June 1998 while at the presidential villa in Abuja. He was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy. This fueled speculation that foul-play was involved and that he may have been poisoned by political rivals via prostitutes. On the contrary, Nigerian military rulers cited his cause of death as a sudden heart attack. It is reported that he was in the company of two Indian prostitutes imported from Dubai. It is thought that these prostitutes laced his drink with a poisonous substance, making Abacha feel unwell around 4:30am. He retired to his bed and was dead by 6:15am.
After his death, Major Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria's defense chief of staff, was sworn in as the country's head of state. Abdussalam Abubakar had never before held public office and was quick to announce a transition to democracy, which led to the election of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Then Late President Musa Yar' Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan! Abacha was married to Maryam Abacha and had seven sons and three daughters.
