Nigeria, a country in West Africa that has a population of over 216 million people, gained its independence on 1 October 1960. This was after the British government, led by Sir Frederick Lord Lugard, brought together the major ethnic groups of the country, comprising the northern, southern, and western regions. The first president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe (1963-1966), was a prominent nationalist figure who at the time had no vice president because Nigeria was running a parliamentary system of government; he had a prime minister, Tafawa Balewa, as the head of government.
In 1966, under the military regime, Brigadier Baba Femi Ogundipe held the position of first de facto vice president, unelected but assigned by the military government at the time. After the 1966 coup, farewell to the military government, the position of the vice (deputy) president of Nigeria came on board fully. It was recognized under the new constitution of a federal system. The period was called the Second Republic. Nigeria established a new constitution where members of a political party are elected as president and vice president. Moving further, we will get to have a list all of Nigerian vice presidents comprising all who served during the regimes of leadership in the country. We will also discuss in detail the vice presidents, past and present, of Nigeria.
The List Of All Nigerian Vice Presidents ( 1960 till Date)
| Republic | Vice President | Title | Period | President Served Under | Party |
| 1st Republic | Nwafor Orizu | Acting President (Senate President) | 1960–1966 | Abubakar Tafawa Balewa | NCNC/NPC |
| Military Rule | Babafemi Ogundipe | Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ | 1966 | Aguiyi-Ironsi | Military |
| Joseph Edet Akinwale Wey | Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ | 1966–1975 | Yakubu Gowon | Military | |
| Olusegun Obasanjo | Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ | 1975–1976 | Murtala Mohammed | Military | |
| Shehu Musa Yar’Adua | Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ | 1976–1979 | Olusegun Obasanjo | Military | |
| 2nd Republic | Alex Ekwueme | Vice President | 1979–1983 | Shehu Shagari | NPN |
| Military Rule | Tunde Idiagbon | Chief of Staff, Supreme HQ | 1983–1985 | Muhammadu Buhari | Military |
| Augustus Aikhomu | Chief of General Staff | 1985–1993 | Ibrahim Babangida | Military | |
| — | Vacant | 1993 | Ernest Shonekan (Interim) | None | |
| Oladipo Diya | Chief of General Staff | 1993–1997 | Sani Abacha | Military | |
| Mike Akhigbe | Chief of General Staff | 1998–1999 | Abdulsalami Abubakar | Military | |
| 4th Republic | Atiku Abubakar | Vice President | 1999–2007 | Olusegun Obasanjo | PDP |
| Goodluck Jonathan | Vice President | 2007–2010 | Umaru Yar’Adua | PDP | |
| Namadi Sambo | Vice President | 2010–2015 | Goodluck Jonathan | PDP | |
| Yemi Osinbajo | Vice President | 2015–2023 | Muhammadu Buhari | APC | |
| Kashim Shettima | Vice President | 2023–present | Bola Ahmed Tinubu | APC |
The First Vice President Of Nigeria
The first vice president of Nigeria is recognised in two regimes: military and civilian rule. Baba Femi Ogundipe (1966), who was born in 1924 in Ogun State, was the first vice president of Nigeria during the military system of government.
During the Second Republic, a period that saw Nigerians transforming to full civilian leadership due to the change of the system of government from military to presidential, both the president and vice president were elected by voting.
The first elected vice president of Nigeria was Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, who served under President Shehu Shagari (1979-1983). Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was born in 1932 in Anambra State and died in 2017 in London after a coma. Before returning to Nigeria, he began his career as an assistant architect with the London-based firm Nickson and Partners and the Seattle-based firm Leo A. Daly and Associates.
In Nigeria, he created the first indigenous architectural firm, spreading through the nation; he also served as the chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Architects before becoming the vice president in 1979.
It was quite unfortunate, as the second republic was cut short; there was a coup that occurred again in 1983, which saw the democratic government overthrown by the military.
The Current Vice President Of Nigeria
After the military system which overthrew the second republic, there came the fourth republic, a time which gave Nigerians hope of full democratic power. It started with Atiku Abubakar, who was then the vice president of Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Nigeria has progressively grown in politics over the years with elected members of its citizens as vice presidents; the list of the Nigeria vice presidents cannot be complete without the current vice president being mentioned, Kashim Shettima (2023–incumbent), and Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president.
Kashim Shettima is a Maiduguri-born indigene of Borno State. He studied agricultural economics at the University of Maiduguri. He started his career as a banker and rose to the ranks of Zenith Bank manager, Maiduguri Branch. Kashim Shettima later joined the cabinet of the then Governor of Maiduguri, Ali Modu Sheriff, in 2007 and was a commissioner in more than 4 ministries. He was elected the governor of Maiduguri state in 2011, where he served two tenures before joining the Senate in 2019. In 2023 he was elected as the vice president of Nigeria, incumbent.
Summary
Nigeria as a country has struggled through time over the shift of leadership from the military regime to democracy. This change has shaped the political structure of Nigeria since independence. The shift in government has caused the country to have a list of Nigeria’s vice presidents under different systems of government to be inconsistent, resulting in two first vice presidents, under military regime and civilian rule. This article featured a chronological list of the various vice presidents of Nigeria in a tabular form, focusing on the first and current vice presidents of the nation.