Constitutional basis
Chapter VI, Part I of the nigerian constitution establishes the federal executive. Section 130(1) vests executive authority in a President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Section 130(2) confers on that office the status of "Head of State and Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation" S1. Section 5(1) further defines the scope of that authority, stating that the executive powers of the Federation "shall be vested in the President" and may be exercised by him directly or through the Vice-President, Ministers, or officers in the federal public service, extending to the execution of the Constitution and of all laws made by the National Assembly S2. The same section requires that a presidential declaration of war, or the deployment of the armed forces outside Nigeria for combat, be sanctioned by a resolution of both Houses of the national assembly sitting jointly, while permitting a limited emergency deployment where the President judges national security to be under imminent threat, subject to seeking the Senate's consent within seven days S2
Election, term, and succession
The President is elected under Section 135, which sets a term of four years running from the date the President-elect takes the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office S7. A President may be elected to a maximum of two terms of four years each, a limit widely reported as intended to guarantee periodic democratic turnover in the office S8. Section 135 further provides that, if the federation is at war and its territory is physically involved, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the President's term, though not by more than six months at a time S7. The President continues in office until a successor takes the oath, or until death, resignation, or removal from office under the procedures described below and in national assembly S7
The Vice-President and the Presidency's administrative structure
The President is assisted by a Vice-President, elected on the same ticket, who deputises for the President and performs functions the President assigns S1. Below the President and Vice-President, the executive branch's day-to-day coordination is carried out through several statutory and administrative offices collectively referred to as "the Presidency": the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, the Office of the Vice-President, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and the Office of the National Security Adviser, each with its own staff and remit within State House, Abuja S3. The Chief of Staff functions as the President's principal administrative aide and gatekeeper to the Office of the President, while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation coordinates the business of the Federal Executive Council and communication among federal ministries S3
The Federal Executive Council
Sections 147 and 148 govern the appointment of Ministers, who together with the President and Vice-President constitute the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Nigeria's cabinet S1. Section 147(5) restricts eligibility to persons qualified for election to the House of Representatives, and the "federal character" principle in Section 14(3) has been applied in practice through the convention that the President appoints at least one Minister from each of the 36 states, a practice the Constitution links to representing Nigeria's diversity in federal appointments S1. Ministerial nominees require Senate confirmation before assuming office S1. Council membership is not fixed for the life of an administration: cabinets are periodically reshuffled, with individual ministers replaced, redeployed to different portfolios, or removed at the President's discretion, each such change reported publicly by the Presidency S5
Current composition, as of 2026
Bola Ahmed Tinubu was inaugurated as President of Nigeria on 29 May 2023, with Kashim Shettima as Vice-President S4. Days after the inauguration, on 3 June 2023, Tinubu appointed Femi Gbajabiamila, the outgoing Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, as Chief of Staff, and George Akume, a former governor of Benue State and outgoing Minister of Special Duties, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Gbajabiamila formally resigned his House seat and took up the Chief of Staff role on 14 June 2023, while Ibrahim Hadejia was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff S4. The Senate confirmed and the President swore in 45 ministers in August 2023, a group widely reported at the time as the largest Federal Executive Council in Nigeria's history by initial size S4. Cabinet composition has changed since: in a reshuffle announced by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in April 2026, Wale Edun departed as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy and was succeeded by Taiwo Oyedele, previously a Minister of State, while Ahmed Musa Dangiwa departed the Housing and Urban Development portfolio in favour of ministerial nominee Muttaqha Rabe Darma, with the changes described by the Presidency as intended to strengthen "cohesion" and "synergy in governance" within the Council S5
Removal from office
The President may be removed before the end of a term through the impeachment procedure in Section 143, which requires a written notice of allegation of "gross misconduct" signed by at least one-third of all members of the National Assembly, a two-thirds vote in each House to proceed to investigation, examination by an independent seven-member panel appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and final adoption of the panel's findings by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly before the President stands removed S6. No sitting President had been removed from office through this procedure as of mid-2026, a fact reported by legal commentators tracking its use since 1999 S6
Checks on presidential power
The Presidency operates within a system of separated powers described more fully in national assembly and federal structure of nigeria: the National Assembly must appropriate all federal spending, confirm key nominees, and can override a presidential veto of legislation by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, while the federal judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, retains authority to adjudicate disputes over the constitutionality of executive action S2S6. Commentary on how robustly these checks constrain any given administration varies by observer and political affiliation, and such assessments are recorded on this site only as attributed viewpoints, never as the article's own evaluation, consistent with the site's neutrality policy for politics coverage S6