Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, GCFR,[1][2] (/oʊˈbɑːsəndʒoʊ/; Yoruba: Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ [olúʃɛ̙́ɡũ ɒ̙básandʒɒ̙́];[3] born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its President from 1999 to 2007. Ideologically a Nigerian nationalist, he was a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) from 1999 to 2015 and again from 2018 onward.