This is a list of heads of state of Nigeria by age.

Overview

The youngest person to become head of state was

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquish ...

, who at the age of 31, assumed office after the assassination of

Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup, which decapitated the country's leadersh ...

during the July 1966 counter-coup. The youngest civilian head of state to assume the presidency was

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

, who at the age of 52, succeeded to the office after the death of

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...

, he was also the youngest person

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

to the office at the age of 53. The youngest to become head of state by election was

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...

, who was

inaugurated In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...

at age 54. The oldest person to assume the presidency was

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

who was

at age 72. Assassinated at age 37,

Murtala Muhammed Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War ...

was the youngest head of state at the end of his tenure, and his lifespan was the shortest of any head of state, he was the only head of state not to have lived to the age of 40. At age 40, Yakubu Gowon was the youngest person to become a former head of state. The oldest head of state at the end of his tenure was also Muhammadu Buhari at 80. Buhari's second retirement, now , is currently the shortest,

's retirement, now years, is the longest in Nigeria's history. At age , Gowon is also the oldest living head of state. Shehu Shagari who died in 2018 aged 93 is the nation's longest-lived head of state. Only two heads of state (

and

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the n ...

) have lived into their 90s. The youngest living head of state is Goodluck Jonathan, age .

List of heads of state by age at assuming office

This is a list of heads of state of Nigeria by age at assuming office from the youngest to the oldest.

List of heads of state by longevity

This table shows heads of state by their longevity (living heads of state in gold).

Nigerian heads of state's ages

This table charts the age of each

head of state of Nigeria This is a list of the heads of state of Nigeria, from independence in 1960 to the present day. The current constitution of Nigeria has the president of Nigeria as the head of state and government. From 1960 to 1963, the head of state under the Co ...

at the time of assuming office, upon leaving office, and at the time of death. Where the head of state is still living, their lifespan and post head of state timespan are calculated up to .

Notes

References

{{reflist, 30em Lists of Nigerian politicians Nigeria, Presidents