Below are the chronologies of past Nigerian presidents and heads of state from her independence in 1960 to the present day. The current constitution of Nigeria has the president as the head of state and government.
From 1960 to 1963, the head of state under the Constitution of 1960 was the queen of Nigeria, Elizabeth II, the queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The monarch was represented in Nigeria by a governor-general. Under the Constitution of 1963, Nigeria became a republic within the Commonwealth, and a ceremonial president replaced the monarch and governor-general. Nnamdi Azikiwe served as the only indigenous governor-general of Nigeria.
Since Nigeria became a republic in 1963, 13 individuals have served as heads of state of Nigeria under different titles. While President Muhammadu Buhari is the nation’s 15th head of state, he served as the 7th head of state during a military regime between 1983 and 1985. Olusegun Obasanjo served as the 5th and 12th heads of state. Both served in office for non-consecutive periods, first as military personnel and later as civilians. The first ceremonial president, who served during the first republic, was Nnamdi Azikiwe, while the first executive president of Nigeria was Shehu Shagari. He was also the first president to be elected to the position.
The interim government of Ernest Shonekan, who was deposed 83 days after taking office in 1993, is the shortest in Nigeria’s history, not including the tenure of Sir James Robertson, who served 46 days as governor-general immediately after independence. Aguiyi-Ironsi served 194 days in the office, the shortest for a permanent head of state. Murtala Muhammed served 199 days in the position. Yakubu Gowon served the longest continuous period of almost nine years before being deposed while away from the country in 1975. Olusegun Obasanjo served the longest eleven-year period, two hundred and thirty days combined.
Five heads of state were deposed in a military coup (Nnamdi Azikiwe, Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari, Muhammadu Buhari and Ernest Shonekan). Four heads of state died in office; two were assassinated during a military coup (Aguiyi-Ironsi and Murtala Muhammed), while two died of natural causes (Sani Abacha and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua). Three heads of state resigned: Olusegun Obasanjo and Abdulsalami Abubakar resigned after transitioning to democracy in 1979 and 1999, respectively, while Ibrahim Babangida was forced to resign after he annulled the 12 June 1993 presidential election in which SDP candidate MKO Abiola reportedly won. Olusegun Obasanjo was the first vice president (as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters) to become head of state when Murtala Muhammed was killed during the 1976 Nigerian coup d’état attempt, while Goodluck Jonathan was the first democratic vice president to become head of state when Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died of illness on 5 May 2010. Muhammadu Buhari took over from Goodluck Jonathan on 29 May 2015 to 2023.
Buhari passed on the mantle of leadership to Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th head of state since 1960 and the fifth president since the return to civil rule in 1999.
Timeline of Nigerian President
- Abubakar Tafawa Balewa 1959 – 1966
- Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, January 1966 – July 1966
- Yakubu Gowon 1966-1975
- Murtala Mohammed July 1975 – February 1976
- Olusegun Obasanjo 1976 – 1979
- Shehu Shagari 1979 – 1983
- Muhammadu Buhari 1983 – 1985
- Ibrahim Babangida 1985 – 1993
- Ernest Shonekan August 1993 – November 1993
- Sani Abacha 1993 – 1998
- Abdulsalami Abubakar 1998-1999
- Olusegun Obasanjo 1999 – 2007
- Umaru Yar’Adua 2007 – 2010
- Goodluck Jonathan 2010-2015
- Muhammadu Buhari 2015-2023
- Bola Tinubu 2023-
