Liberal democracy index during each president's tenure
Every president since 1991, ranked by how the liberal democracy index changed from their first day in office. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.
| # | President | In office | Total | Per year | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PDP Olusegun Obasanjo | 29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007 | +18.7 points 1998 → 2006 | +2.3 points/yr | |
| 2 | PDP Goodluck Jonathan | 9 Feb 2010 – 29 May 2015 | +8.5 points 2009 → 2014 | +1.7 points/yr | |
| 3 | PDP Umaru Musa Yar'Adua | 29 May 2007 – 9 Feb 2010 | +1.0 points 2006 → 2009 | +0.3 points/yr | |
| 4 | APC Bola Tinubu | 29 May 2023 – now | −1.0 points 2022 → 2025 | −0.3 points/yr | |
| 5 | N Sani Abacha | 17 Nov 1993 – 9 Jun 1998 | −5.1 points 1993 → 1997 | −1.3 points/yr | |
| 6 | APC Muhammadu Buhari | 29 May 2015 – 29 May 2023 | −6.8 points 2014 → 2022 | −0.8 points/yr |
Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in points; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. points, 0 to 100, V-Dem's 0 to 1 index times 100 · V-Dem Institute, V-Dem dataset v16 (v2x_libdem): the liberal democracy index, electoral democracy plus the checks on the executive and the rights of the person, as V-Dem's country experts rate them, with V-Dem's confidence interval; the 0 to 1 index times 100 · Nigeria data · as of Aug 2026.