Aso Villa
The Aso Rock Villa is the workplace and official residence of the President of Nigeria since 1991, when Nigeria moved its capital from Lagos to Abuja. It is located at Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro District, Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. The Aso Rock Villa hosts the offices of the President and President of Nigeria|Vice President] and it is the seat of the Executive Arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The Aso Rock Villa is the most protected presidential state house in Africa. It is heavily protected by the Presidential Guards Brigade and the State [Security Service (Nigeria)|State Security Service].
History
The palatial residence was completed in 1991, the same year the military junta of Ibrahim Babangida relocated the national capital from Lagos to Abuja. Aso Villa encompasses the 400 meter monolith Aso Rock, located within the Three Arms Zone of Abuja metropolis. In 1976, the Military Government of Murtala Mohammed took the decision to relocate the Federal Capital from Lagos and set up a committee under the leadership of Justice Akinola Aguda which recommended the creation of a Federal Capital Territory in the center of the country and a proclamation to this effect was issued on 3 February 1976.Akinola Aguda House 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 new Residence of the Vice President was completed and commissioned in 2024. Today the Presidential Complex, located in the Asokoro District next to the Three Arms Zone of the Federal Capital Territory, consists of the Main Presidential Villa, the State House Conference Center, State House Annex State House Clinic, and the Akinola Aguda House. The old Presidential Lodge in Marina, Lagos, was handed over to the Lagos State Government in 2017.