Nigerian Presidents and Heads of State (1960 to Date)

Nigeria has had 16 heads of state and government since independence on 1 October 1960, held by 14 individuals — Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari each led the country twice, once as a military ruler and once as an elected president. Of those 16 administrations, 8 were military, 7 civilian and 1 interim. Nnamdi Azikiwe, ceremonial President from 1963 to 1966, is counted separately because he served alongside Prime Minister Balewa rather than heading his own administration.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the current President of Nigeria. He was sworn in on 29 May 2023 as the country's 16th head of state since 1960, and has been in office 3 yrs 2 mos. The presidential term runs four years, renewable once.

Nnamdi Azikiwe was Nigeria's first President, serving in a ceremonial role from 1 October 1963 — when Nigeria became a republic — until the military coup of January 1966. At independence in 1960 Nigeria was still a constitutional monarchy: Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa governed as Prime Minister from 1 October 1960, while Azikiwe served as Governor-General. Nigeria's first executive president, holding both head-of-state and head-of-government powers, was Shehu Shagari in 1979.

In chronological order: Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1960), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (1963), Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (1966), General Yakubu Gowon (1966), General Murtala Muhammed (1975), General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976), Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1979), Major General Muhammadu Buhari (1983), General Ibrahim Babangida (1985), Chief Ernest Shonekan (1993), General Sani Abacha (1993), General Abdulsalami Abubakar (1998), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999), Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007), Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (2010), Muhammadu Buhari (2015), Bola Ahmed Tinubu (2023).

Nigeria had 8 military heads of state across two periods of military rule, 1966–1979 and 1983–1999: Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, General Yakubu Gowon, General Murtala Muhammed, General Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Sani Abacha, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Military rule ended on 29 May 1999, when General Abdulsalami Abubakar handed power to the elected government of the Fourth Republic.

General Yakubu Gowon served the longest unbroken tenure — 8 yrs 11 mos, from 1 August 1966 to 29 July 1975. Counting both of his terms together, Olusegun Obasanjo spent the most total time in power: about three and a half years as military head of state (1976–1979) plus eight years as elected president (1999–2007).

Five sitting leaders died in office. Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was killed in the coup of January 1966; Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed in the counter-coup of July 1966; General Murtala Muhammed was assassinated in a failed coup on 13 February 1976; General Sani Abacha died on 8 June 1998; and President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010 after a long illness. Yar'Adua's death brought Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to the presidency.