Abubakar speaks to Nigeria Wednesday
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ABUJA, Nigeria (CNN) -- Amid rioting that has taken at least 19 lives, Nigeria's military ruler Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar on Wednesday made a televised appeal for calm in the wake of the death of prominent opposition leader Moshood Abiola .

"I appeal to you all to remain calm despite your understandable grief. Our national grief cannot be assuaged by recourse to lawlessness, threat to lives and wanton destruction of innocent people's property," Abubakar said.

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"I personally knew Chief Abiola. We must all determine to give him a dignified burial in an atmosphere of appropriate solemnity and peace as he would have wished," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Abubakar, who became Nigeria's ruler June 8 after the death of military strongman Gen. Sani Abacha, dissolved his Cabinet. But he left in place the Provisional Ruling Council, the core of the military junta that has ruled Nigeria since 1993.

In his televised address, Abubakar said he was "keenly aware of the imperatives of national reconciliation and restoration of democracy to our troubled nation in an atmosphere of peace and stability."

However, he made no specific announcements of any plans to restore democracy, saying only that he would address Nigerians in "due course" on the "general character of this administration."

Abiola, 60, claimed Nigeria's presidency in 1993 after elections that were subsequently annulled by the military. He had been jailed since 1994, but the Abubakar government -- which has been trying to soften its hard-line image -- was expected to release him.

Indeed, in his address to Nigerians, Abubakar said the Provision Ruling Council had been scheduled to discuss Abiola's release Wednesday. But before the government could act, the opposition leader collapsed and died Tuesday while meeting with a visiting diplomatic delegation from the United States.

The government said the cause of death initially appeared to be a heart attack, and American officials said there was no reason to suspect foul play. But riots swept Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan and other towns in southwestern Nigeria, where protesters accused the government of murdering Abiola. At least 19 people died.

At least some of the violence appeared ethnic based, with Yorubas from Nigeria's southwest attacking Hausas from the north. Abiola was a Yoruba; Hausas, along with another northern group, the Fulanis, make up a majority of the military and the junta.

By mid-afternoon Wednesday, violence in Lagos appeared to be waning, as police fanned out in ever-greater numbers. Burned cars and other wreckage was being cleared away.

To clear up the questions surrounding Abiola's death, the government ordered that an autopsy be performed. At the request of Abiola's family, pathologists from the United States, Britain and Canada will participate in the examination, Abubakar said.

While the military government had been critical of Abiola when he was alive, Abubakar was generous in his comments about the opposition leader Wednesday, saying that had Abiola lived, he would have "contributed his own quota" to the process of reform in Nigeria. Abubakar termed Abiola's death a "national tragedy."

"In the coming critical weeks and months, we shall mourn and miss him," Abubakar said. "On behalf of myself, the government and people of Nigeria, I extend heartfelt condolences to the Abiola family, his numerous friends and associates and to the many young men and women for whom he held out hope."

Reuters contributed to this report.