Aso Villa (officially The Aso Rock Presidential Villa) is the

workplace A workplace is a location where someone Work (human activity), works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a Small office/home office, home office to a large office building or factory. For Indust ...

and

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Niger ...

since 1991, when Nigeria moved its capital from

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

. It is located at Yakubu Gowon Crescent, The Three Arms Zone, Asokoro, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria. Several names that are used for Aso Villa include: State House, The Rock and The Villa. The Aso Rock villa is the most protected presidential state house in Africa.

History

The palatial residence was completed in 1991, the same year the military junta of

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...

relocated the national capital from

. Aso Villa encompasses the 400 meter monolith

Aso Rock Aso Rock is a large outcrop of granitic rock located on the outskirts of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. The Aso Rock is a prominent monolith with a peak height of above sea level. It is one of the city's most noticeable features. The Nigerian ...

, located within the

Three Arms Zone The Three Arms Zone is a district of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, so named because it contains the headquarters of the Three Arms of Government. The Supreme Court (Judiciary), The National Assembly (Legislature), and the Presidential Villa (Execut ...

of Abuja metropolis. In 1976, the Military Government of

Murtala Mohammed 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 ...

took the decision to relocate the Federal Capital from Lagos and set up a committee under the leadership of Justice

Akinola Aguda Akinola Aguda (1923 – 5 September 2001) was a Yoruba Nigerian jurist and a former Chief Justice of Botswana. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, he was a lawyer and a High Court judge in Nigeria's Western Region. He was the first indigenous Af ...

which recommended the creation of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the center of the country and a proclamation to this effect was issued on 3 February 1976. Akinola Aguda House (formally named on 1 October 1983) was originally conceived as a Presidential Lodge & Guest House Complex and hosted the first ever formal Cabinet Meeting held outside Lagos, only days after Abuja hosted Nigeria's Independence Anniversary celebrations for the first time, in October 1982. President Ibrahim Babangida, who took office in 1985, commenced construction of a new presidential residence in 1989 and in 1991 the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was completed and President Babangida became the first Head of State to occupy it, on 12 December 1991. Upon completion of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, the Aguda House became the Vice Presidential Complex, and has remained so till date apart from the period between 1999 and 2007 when the Vice President lived in a Residence that has since been transferred to the Judiciary as Official Quarters of the Chief Justice of Nigeria. In 2010, construction of a new Vice Presidential Residence commenced. The Residence has yet to be completed and the

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 ...

administration has said it is not a priority. Today the Presidential Complex, located in the Three Arms Zone of the Federal Capital Territory, consists of the Main Presidential Villa (Office and Residence of the President, and Offices of the Vice President and Wife of the President), the State House Conference Center, State House Annex, and the Akinola Aguda House. The old

Presidential Lodge The Presidential Lodge is the former presidential palace located at the Marina in Lagos, Nigeria. It was constructed during the British colonial time. After the federal government moved to Abuja in 1991 the palace lost its function as the ...

in Marina, Lagos, was handed over to the

Lagos State Government Lagos State Government is the government of Lagos State, concerned with the administration of the state ministries. The government consists of the executive, legislative and Judiciary. The government is headed by the Governor who is the policy-maker ...

in 2017. The villa is currently under the protection of the Presidential Guard Brigade which perform ceremonial and protective duties for the president. The brigade performs

public duties Public duties are performed by military personnel, and usually have a ceremonial or historic significance rather than an overtly operational role. Armenia Since September 2018, the Honour Guard Battalion of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has ...

in a weekly

changing of the guard Guard mounting, changing the guard, or the changing of the guard, is a formal ceremony in which sentries performing ceremonial guard duties at important institutions are relieved by a new batch of sentries. The ceremonies are often elaborate a ...

ceremony outside the villa.

References

{{Abuja Presidential residences Buildings and structures in Abuja Official residences in Nigeria 1991 establishments in Nigeria Government buildings completed in 1991