Aso Rock Villa
In 1976 the Military Government of Murtala Mohammed took the decision to relocate the Federal Capital from Lagos, to a more central location, and set up a panel headed by Justice Akinola Aguda to make recommendations. The Aguda Panel recommended the creation of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the center of the country. General Mohammed issued a proclamation to this effect on February 3, 1976.
The construction of Abuja started at the beginning of the 1980s. Akinola Aguda House (formally christened on October 1, 1983) was originally conceived as a Presidential Lodge & Guest House Complex – comprising a temporary official residence for the President (pending the construction of a permanent Presidential Residence), as well as Guest Houses for visiting Heads of State – during the presidency of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. In October 1982 the Aguda House hosted the first ever formal Cabinet Meeting held outside Lagos, only days after Abuja hosted Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary celebrations for the first time.
President Ibrahim Babangida, who took office in 1985, commenced construction of a new Presidential residence. In 1991 the Aso Rock Presidential Villa was completed and President Babangida became the first Head of State to occupy it, moving in on December 12, 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 for the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
In 2003, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Aguda House hosted Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
In 2010, construction of a new Vice Presidential Residence commenced. In June 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu completed and commissioned the official residence of the Vice President, saying it is in fulfillment of his promises to Nigerians.
