Nigerian rulers from pre-independence period to the present day.

Rulers of Nigeria | Rulers of Region of Nigeria (1954-67) | States Rulers | Traditional polities

Lagos
1861 British colony (subordinated to Sierra Leone 1866-74
and to the Gold Coast 1874-86)
1906 part of Southern Nigeria

Administrators
1862 - 1863 Henry Stanhope Freeman
1863 - 1864 W.R. Mulliner
1864 - 1866 John Hawley Glover (1st time) (b. 1829 - d. 1885)
1866 Charles George Edward Patey (b. 1813 - d. 1881)

(acting)
Feb 1866 - 1871 John Hawley Glover (2nd time) (s.a.)
1871 - 1872 J. Gerrard
1872 Henry Fowley
1872 - 1873 George Berkeley (b. 1819 - d. 1905)
1873 Charles Cameron Lees (1st time) (b. 1831 - d. 1898)

(acting)
1873 - 1874 George Cumine Strahan (b. 1838 - d. 1889)
1874 John Shaw (acting)
1874 - 1875 Charles Cameron Lees (2nd time) (s.a.)
1875 - 1878 John d'Arcy Dumaresq
1878 F. Simpson (acting)
1878 Malcolm Brown (acting)
1878 - 1880 Cornelius Alfred Moloney (b. 1848 - d. 1913)
1880 William Brandford Griffith (b. 1821 - d. 1897)
1880 - 1883 C.D. Turton

Lieutenant governors
1883 Cornelius Alfred Moloney (acting) (s.a.)
1883 Fred Evans (acting)
1883 - 1884 William Brandford Griffith (s.a.)
1884 R. Murray Ramsey
1884 - 1885 R. Knapp Barrow
1885 - 1886 C. Pike

Governors
1886 - 1891 Cornelius Alfred Moloney (s.a.)
1891 - 1899 Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter (b. 1848 - d. 1927)
1899 - 1904 Sir William MacGregor (b. 1846 - d. 1919)
1904 - 1906 Walter Egerton (from 1905,
Sir Walter Egerton) (b. 1858 - d. 1947)

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Northern Nigeria
1 Jan 1900 Protectorate of Northern Nigeria
1 Jan 1914 united with Southern Nigeria

High commissioners
1 Jan 1900 - Nov 1906 Frederick Lugard
(from 1901, Sir Frederick Lugard) (b. 1858 - d. 1945)
1907 - 1908 Edouard Percy Cranwill Girouard (b. 1867 - d. 1932)

Governors
1908 - 1909 Edouard Percy Cranwill Girouard (s.a.)
1909 - 1912 Henry Hesketh Joudou Bell (b. 1864 - d. 1952)
1912 - 1 Jan 1914 Sir Frederick Lugard (s.a.)

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Southern Nigeria
1891 Oil Rivers Protectorate
13 May 1893 Niger Coast Protectorate
1 Jan 1900 Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
28 Feb 1906 Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
1 Jan 1914 united with Northern Nigeria

Commissioners
1891 - 1896 Claude Maxwell Macdonald
(from 1892, Sir Claude Maxwell
Macdonald) (b. 1852 - d. 1915)
1896 - 1 Jan 1900 Ralph Denham Rayment Moor
(from 1897, Sir Ralph Denham
Rayment Moor) (b. 1860 - d. 1909)

High commissioners
1 Jan 1900 - 1903 Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moor (s.a.)
1904 - 28 Feb 1906 Walter Egerton (from 1905,
Sir Walter Egerton) (s.a.)

Governors
28 Feb 1906 - 1912 Sir Walter Egerton (s.a.)
1912 - 1 Jan 1914 Sir Frederick Lugard (s.a.)

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Nigeria
1 Jan 1914 Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
1 Oct 1954 Federation of Nigeria
1 Oct 1960 independence
1 Oct 1963 Federal Republic of Nigeria
24 May 1966 Republic of Nigeria
31 Aug 1966 Federal Republic of Nigeria

Governor-general
1 Jan 1914 - 8 Aug 1919 Sir Frederick Lugard (s.a.)

Governors
8 Aug 1919 - 13 Nov 1925 Sir Hugh Clifford (b. 1866 - d. 1941)
13 Nov 1925 - 17 Jun 1931 Sir Graeme Thomson (b. 1875 - d. 1933)
17 Jun 1931 - 1 Nov 1935 Sir Donald Charles Cameron (b. 1872 - d. 1948)
1 Nov 1935 - 1 Jul 1940 Sir Bernard Henry Bourdillon (b. 1883 - d. 1948)
1 Jul 1940 - 1942 Sir John Evelyn Shuckburgh (b. 1877 - d. 1953)
1942 - 18 Dec 1943 Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns (b. 1887 - d. 1980)
18 Dec 1943 - 5 Feb 1948 Sir Arthur Frederick Richards (b. 1885 - d. 1978)
5 Feb 1948 - 1 Oct 1954 Sir John Stuart Macpherson (b. 1898 - d. 1971)

Governors-general (representing the British monarch as head of state from 1 Oct 1960)
1 Oct 1954 - 15 Jun 1955 Sir John Stuart Macpherson (s.a.)
15 Jun 1955 - 16 Nov 1960 Sir James Wilson Robertson (b. 1899 - d. 1983)
16 Nov 1960 - 1 Oct 1963 Nnamdi Azikiwe (b. 1904 - d. 1996)

President

.
1 Oct 1963 - 16 Jan 1966 Nnamdi Azikiwe (s.a.)

Heads of the Federal Military Government
(from 24 May to 31 Aug 1966, National Military Government)
16 Jan 1966 - 29 Jul 1966 Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (b. 1924 - d. 1966)
1 Aug 1966 - 29 Jul 1975 Yakubu Gowon (b. 1934)
29 Jul 1975 - 13 Feb 1976 Murtala R. Muhammad (b. 1938 - d. 1976)
14 Feb 1976 - 1 Oct 1979 Olusegun Obasanjo (b. 1937)

President
1 Oct 1979 - 31 Dec 1983 Alhaji Shehu Shagari (b. 1925)

Chairman of the Supreme Military Council
31 Dec 1983 - 27 Aug 1985 Muhammadu Buhari (b. 1942)

President and chairman of the Armed Forces Ruling Council
(from 4 Jan 1993, president of the National Defense and Security Council)
27 Aug 1985 - 26 Aug 1993 Ibrahim Babangida (b. 1941)

Interim president
26 Aug 1993 - 17 Nov 1993 Ernest Shonekan (b. 1936)

Chairmen of the Provisional Ruling Council
17 Nov 1993 - 8 Jun 1998 Sani Abacha (b. 1943 - d. 1998)
9 Jun 1998 - 29 May 1999 Abdulsalami Abubakar (b. 1942)

President
29 May 1999 - 29 May 2007 Olusegun Obasanjo (s.a.)
29 May 2007 - 5 May 2010 Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (b. 1951 - d. 2010)
9 Feb 2010 - 29 May 2015 Goodluck Jonathan (b. 1957) (acting for Yar'Adua to 5 May 2010)

29 May 2015 - Muhammadu Buhari - Present (s.a.)


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Prime minister
30 Aug 1957 - 15 Jan 1966 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (from 1 Jan
1960, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa) (b. 1912 - d. 1966)

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Biafra
30 May 1967 secession of Eastern Region as Republic of Biafra
(not internationally recognized)
12 Jan 1970 reintegration into Nigeria

Presidents
30 May 1967 - 8 Jan 1970 Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (b. 1933)
8 Jan 1970 - 12 Jan 1970 Philip Effiong (acting) (b. 1924 - d. 2003)