List of presidents of Nigeria

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. 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; Nnamdi Azikiwe, the second governor-general after independence became the first president. Azikiwe shared power with the elected Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Shehu Shagari was the first elected president of Nigeria. The incumbent president is Bola Tinubu, who assumed office on 29 May 2023. 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.

The interim government of Ernest Shonekan, who was deposed 83 days after taking office in 1993, was the shortest in Nigeria's history. 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. Olusegun Obasanjo served as the longest ruled president, for eleven years, two hundred and thirty days; of his combined two terms.

Four heads of state died in office: two were assassinated during a military coup (Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and Murtala Muhammed) and two died of natural causes (Sani Abacha and Umaru Musa Yar'Adua). 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. Obasanjo was the first vice president (called chief of staff) to become head of state following the 1976 military coup attempt, while Goodluck Jonathan was the first democratically elected vice president to become president after Yar'Adua died on 5 May 2010.