The president of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of Nigeria, directly elected to a four-year term. Under the Nigerian Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. [1] After the Independence of Nigeria on 1 October 1960, the first head of state was the queen of Nigeria Elizabeth II, who was also the monarch of other Commonwealth realms; she was represented by a governor-general. Nigeria became a republic under the 1963 constitution and the queen was replaced by a president; [2] Nnamdi Azikiwe, the second governor-general after independence became the first president. [3] Azikiwe shared power with the elected Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. [4] Shehu Shagari was the first elected president of Nigeria. [5] The incumbent president is Bola Tinubu, who assumed office on 29 May 2023. [6] [7] Since the office was established in 1963, 14 men have served in 16 presidencies; the discrepancy arises from two individuals who served two non-consecutive terms; as military head of states and as elected presidents: Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari. [8]
The interim government of Ernest Shonekan, who was deposed 83 days after taking office in 1993, was the shortest in Nigeria's history. [9] Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who served 194 days in office, was the shortest ruled military head of state. Yakubu Gowon served as the longest, for almost nine years, before being deposed in 1975 while he was away from the country. [10] Olusegun Obasanjo served as the longest ruled president, for eleven years, two hundred and thirty days; of his combined two terms. [11]
Four heads of state died in office: two were assassinated during a military coup (Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi [12] and Murtala Muhammed [13] ) and two died of natural causes (Sani Abacha and Umaru Musa Yar'Adua [14] ). Five heads of state were deposed in a military coup (Nnamdi Azikiwe, Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari, Muhammadu Buhari and Ernest Shonekan). Obasanjo and Abdulsalami Abubakar resigned after Nigeria's transition to democracy in 1979 and 1999 respectively, while Ibrahim Babangida was forced to resign after he cancelled the 1993 presidential election, which SDP candidate Moshood Abiola reportedly won. [15] Obasanjo was the first vice president (called chief of staff) to become head of state following the 1976 military coup attempt, [16] while Goodluck Jonathan was the first democratically elected vice president to become president after Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010. [17] [18]
![]() |
---|
![]() |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Prime minister(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
1 | ![]() | Nnamdi Azikiwe [a] (1904–1996) | 1 October 1963 | 16 January 1966 | 2 years, 107 days | National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons | Abubakar Tafawa Balewa |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
2 | ![]() | Major general Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (1924–1966) | 16 January 1966 | 29 July 1966 X | 194 days | Supreme Military Council | Babafemi Ogundipe | ||
3 | ![]() | General Yakubu Gowon (born 1934) | 1 August 1966 | 29 July 1975 | 8 years, 362 days | Supreme Military Council | J. E. A. Wey | [19] | |
4 | ![]() | General Murtala Muhammed (1938–1976) | 29 July 1975 | 13 February 1976 X | 199 days | Supreme Military Council | Olusegun Obasanjo | ||
5 | ![]() | General Olusegun Obasanjo (born 1937) | 13 February 1976 | 1 October 1979 | 3 years, 230 days | Supreme Military Council | Shehu Musa Yar'Adua |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Elected | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
6 | ![]() | Shehu Shagari [b] (1925–2018) | 1 October 1979 | 31 December 1983 | 4 years, 91 days | National Party of Nigeria | 1979 1983 | Alex Ekwueme |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
7 | ![]() | Major General Muhammadu Buhari [c] (1942–2025) | 31 December 1983 | 27 August 1985 | 1 year, 239 days | Supreme Military Council | Tunde Idiagbon | ||
8 | ![]() | General Ibrahim Babangida (born 1941) | 27 August 1985 | 26 August 1993 | 7 years, 364 days | Armed Forces Ruling Council | Ebitu Ukiwe Augustus Aikhomu |
![]() |
---|
![]() |
The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1992, intended to operate under the Third Republican Constitution. [20] The political framework of the proposed republic included democratically elected state governors, state assemblies, and a National Assembly serving as the federal legislature. However, the system was not fully democratic, as there was no democratically elected President.
The transition programme initiated by then-President Ibrahim Babangida was later perceived as a strategy to retain executive authority while conferring only limited legislative powers on the National Assembly. Under this arrangement, all bills passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives required approval from the National Defence and Security Council before receiving presidential assent.
Although Babangida adopted the title of "President"—a departure from the "Head of State" designation used by earlier military rulers—he repeatedly postponed the conduct of presidential elections. The election eventually held on 12 June 1993 was annulled by his administration.No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
9 | ![]() | Ernest Shonekan [d] (1936–2022) | 26 August 1993 | 17 November 1993 | 83 days | Independent | — |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
10 | ![]() | General Sani Abacha [e] (1943–1998) | 17 November 1993 | 8 June 1998 | 4 years, 203 days | Provisional Ruling Council | Oladipo Diya | ||
11 | ![]() | General Abdulsalami Abubakar (born 1942) | 9 June 1998 | 29 May 1999 | 354 days | Provisional Ruling Council | Michael Akhigbe |
![]() |
---|
![]() |
No. | Portrait | Name (lifespan) | Term of office | Political party | Elected | Vice president(s) | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
12 | ![]() | Olusegun Obasanjo (born 1937) | 29 May 1999 | 29 May 2007 | 8 years, 0 days | People's Democratic Party | 1999 2003 | Atiku Abubakar | ||
13 | ![]() | Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (1951–2010) | 29 May 2007 | 5 May 2010 | 2 years, 341 days | People's Democratic Party | 2007 | Goodluck Jonathan | ||
14 | ![]() | Goodluck Jonathan (born 1957) | 6 May 2010 | 29 May 2015 | 5 years, 23 days | People's Democratic Party | 2011 | Namadi Sambo | [22] | |
15 | ![]() | Muhammadu Buhari (1942–2025) | 29 May 2015 | 29 May 2023 | 8 years, 0 days | All Progressives Congress | 2015 2019 | Yemi Osinbajo | [23] | |
16 | ![]() | Bola Tinubu (born 1952) | 29 May 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 77 days | All Progressives Congress | 2023 | Kashim Shettima |