The Super Eagles captain is one of the three players shortlisted for the award along with Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o Fils and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.
Meanwhile Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o will be available for Barcelona, after the Spanish club and the Cameroonian Football Federation reached an agreement, before Fifa's ruling, to allow the striker to play for the Spanish club.
The Angola tournament has been eagerly anticipated as an early chance to assess the form of African powerhouses such as Drogba and Toure's Ivory Coast, Essien's Ghana and Eto'o's Cameroon ahead of the World Cup.