1885 - 5 Jun 1896	5 Jun 1896 - 1 Jan 1900	1 Jan 1900 - 16 Feb 1906
16 Feb 1906 - 1 Jan 1914

30 Jun 1849 Bight of Biafra British protectorate.
1 Feb 1852 Bight of Benin British protectorate.
6 Aug 1861 Bights of Biafra and Benin a united British protectorate.
16 Jul 1884 British protectorate over Brass, Bonny, Opobo, Aobh, and Old Calabar (excluding Lagos)

(confirmed 5 Jun 1885), named Oil Rivers Protectorate.

Aug 1891 Effective consular administration established.
12 May 1893 Niger Coast Protectorate
1 Jan 1900 Protectorate of Southern Nigeria
16 Feb 1906 Lagos incorporated.
28 Feb 1906 Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria

1 Jan 1914 Part of British Nigeria Colony and Protectorate as Southern provinces.

Consuls of the Bight of Benin
May 1852 - 1853 Louis Fraser
1853 - Apr 1859 Benjamin Campbell
Apr 1859 - 1860 George Brand
1860 - Jan 1861 Henry Hand
Jan 1861 - May 1861 Henry Grant Foote
May 1861 - 6 Aug 1861 William McCoskry (acting)

Consuls of the Bight of Biafra (from 6 Aug 1861, Bights of Biafra and Benin)
30 Jun 1849 - 10 Jun 1854 John Beecroft (died. 1854)
10 Jun 1854 - 1855 James Lynslager (acting)
1855 - 1861 Thomas Joseph Hutchinson
1861 - Dec 1864 Richard Francis Burton
Dec 1864 - 1873 Charles Livingstone
1873 - 1878 George Hartley
1878 - 13 Sep 1879 David Hopkins
13 Sep 1879 - 5 Jun 1885 Edward Hyde Hewett

Consuls-general
5 Jun 1885 - 1 Jan 1891 Edward Hyde Hewett
1 Jan 1891 - 3 Aug 1891 Synge (acting)

Commissioners
3 Aug 1891 - 1896 Claude Maxwell MacDonald (born. 1852 - died 1915)
(from 1892, Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald)
1893 - 13 May 1893 Ralph Denham Rayment Moor (born. 1860 - died 1909)
(acting for MacDonald)
1896 - 1 Jan 1900 Ralph Denham Rayment Moor (s.a.)
(from 1897, Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moore)
Nov 1896 - 4 Jan 1897 Phillips (acting for Moor)

High commissioners 
1 Jan 1900 - Aug 1904 Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moor (s.a.)
1900 Henry Gallwey (acting for Moor)
Aug 1904 - 28 Feb 1906 Walter Egerton (born. 1858 - died. 1947)
(from 1905, Sir Walter Egerton)

Governors
28 Feb 1906 - 1912 Sir Walter Egerton (s.a.)
1907 James Thorburn (acting for Egerton)
1912 - 1 Jan 1914 Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard (s.a.)

2 Jun 1887 - 1 Feb 1888 Royal Niger Company

1 Feb 1888 - 1 Jan 1900

Capital: Asaba

Population: N/A

1879 United African Company (U.A.C.) formed by George T. Goldie
to exploit resources in the Niger Rivers District.
1882 Renamed National African Company Limited (N.A.C.)
10 Jul 1886 Renamed Royal Niger Company Chartered Limit (R.N.C.) was granted a Royal Charter by Britain allowing it to exploit and administer the region.
1 Jan 1900 Company transfers its territories to Britain; incorporated into the Southern Nigeria Protectorate.

Senior Agent
1879 - 1882 David McIntosh (born. 1844 - died. 1888)

General Agents
1882 - 1888 David McIntosh (s.a.)
1888 - 1 Jan 1900 Joseph Flint (died. 1925)

1870 - 1886

1886 - 16 Feb 1906

Capital: Lagos

Population: N/A

Governors
6 Aug 1861 - 22 Jan 1862 William McCoskry (acting)
22 Jan 1862 - 1863 Henry Stanhope Freeman
1863 - 1864 W.R. Mullinar (acting)
1864 - 19 Feb 1866 John Hawley Glover (b. 1829 - d. 1885)
(acting to Apr 1865)

Administrators
19 Feb 1866 - Feb 1866 Charles George Edward Patey (b. 1813 - d. 1881)
(acting)
Feb 1866 - 1870 John Halwey Glover (s.a.)
1870 Miles Cooper (acting)
1870 - 1871 W.H. Simpson (acting)
1871 - 1872 J. Gerrard
1872 Henry Fowler
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 - 27 Jul 1874 John Shaw (acting)
27 Jul 1874 - 1875 Charles Cameron Lees (2nd time) (s.a.)
1875 - 1878 John d'Arcy Dumares
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 Corneilus Alfred Moloney (acting) (s.a.)
1883 Fred Evans (acting)
1883 - 1884 William Brandford Griffith (s.a.)
1884 R. Murray Rumsey
1884 - 1885 R. Knapp Burrow
1885 - 13 Jan 1886 C. Pike

Governors
13 Jan 1886 - 1891 Cornelius Alfred Moloney (s.a.)
1889 - 1890 George Denton (acting for Moloney)
1891 - 1897 Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter (b. 1848 - d. 1927)
1897 - 1899 Henry Edward McCallum (b. 1852 - d. 1919)
1899 - 1902 Sir William MacGregor (b. 1847 - d. 1919)
1902 - Aug 1904 Henry Reeve (acting to 1903)
Aug 1904 - 16 Feb 1906 Walter Egerton (b. 1858 - d. 1947)
(from 1905, Sir Walter Egerton)

1 Jan 1914 Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria
1 Oct 1954 Federation of Nigeria
1 Oct 1960 Independence (Dominion of Nigeria).
1 Oct 1963 Federal Republic of Nigeria
24 May 1966 Republic of Nigeria
31 Aug 1966 Federal Republic of Nigeria
30 May 1967 - 12 Jan 1970 Secession of Biafra.

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

Governors
8 Aug 1919 - 13 Nov 1925 Sir Hugh Charles 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)

Queen
1 Oct 1954 - 1 Oct 1963 the Queen of the United Kingdom

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.) Non-party
15 Jun 1955 - 16 Nov 1960 Sir James Wilson Robertson (b. 1899 - d. 1983) Non-party
16 Nov 1960 - 1 Oct 1963 Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (b. 1904 - d. 1996)  NCNC

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

Heads of the Federal Military Government
(from 24 May to 31 Aug 1966, National Military Government)

16 Jan 1966 - 29 Jul 1966  Johnson Thomas Umurakwe Aguiyi - (born. 1924 - d. 1966) Mil
Ironsi
1 Aug 1966 - 29 Jul 1975 Yakubu Gowon (born. 1934) Mil
29 Jul 1975 - 13 Feb 1976 Murtala Ramat Muhammad (b. 1938 - d. 1976) Mil
14 Feb 1976 - 1 Oct 1979 Olusegun Obasanjo (born. 1937) Mil

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

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

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 Badamasi Babangida (b. 1941) Mil

Interim president
26 Aug 1993 - 17 Nov 1993 Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (b. 1936) Non-party

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

Presidents
29 May 1999 - 29 May 2007 Olusegun Obasanjo (s.a.) PDP
29 May 2007 - Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (b. 1951) PDP

Chief minister
30 Aug 1952 - 1 Oct 1954 Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (s.a.) NCNC

Prime ministers
30 Aug 1957 - 15 Jan 1966 Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (b. 1912 - d. 1966) NPC/NNA
(from 1 Jan 1960, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa)
15 Jan 1966 - 17 Jan 1966 Zanna Bukar Dipcharima (acting) (b. 1917 - d. 1969) NPC

Chairman of the Transitional Council
4 Jan 1993 - 26 Aug 1993 Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (s.a.)A Non-party

Full style 1961 to 1 Oct 1963: Queen of Nigeria and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.

Territorial Disputes: Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including Jun 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in implementation;
only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria.

Party abbreviations (political parties banned 1966-1979, 1983-1989):

AD = Alliance for Democracy (progressive);

APP = All People's Party (conservative);

PDP = People's Democratic Party (centrist);

Mil = Military;

- Former parties:

NNA = Nigerian National Alliance (incl. NPC and Nigerian National Democratic Party);

NPN = National Party of Nigeria (1978-1983, coalition);

NPC = Northern People's Congress (Hausa/Fulani dominated);

NCNC = National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (Igbo dominated);

PDM = People's Democratic Movement;

UPN = Unity Party of Nigeria (1979-1983, seen as pro-ethnic Yoruba)

30 May 1967 - 12 Jan 1970

30 May 1967 Secession of Eastern Region as Republic of Biafra (not internationally recognized).
10-26 Jul 1967
Nigerian federal troops take Ogoja, Nsukka and Bonny Island.
28 Sep 1967 Enugu captured, new capital Unuahia.
24 May 1968 Port Harcourt captured.
22 Apr 1969 Umuahia captured, last capital Owerri.
9 Jan 1970 Owerri captured.
12 Jan 1970 Reintegration into Nigeria.
15 Jan 1970 Biafran forces formally surrender.

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

only nations recognizing Biafra: Gabon (8 May 1968), Haiti (22 Mar 1969), Ivory Coast
(9 May 1968), Tanzania (13 Apr 1968), and Zambia (20 May 1968).

19- 20 Sep 1967

9 Aug 1967 Midwest Region occupied by Biafra.
19 Sep 1967 Republic of Benin declared (07:00)(not recognized).
20 Sep 1967 Re-occupied by Nigeria (13:00).

Biafran Military Administrator
17 Aug 1967 - 19 Sep 1967 Albert Nwazu Okonkwo

Governor
19 Sep 1967 - 20 Sep 1967 Albert Nwazu Okonkwo Mil