The Murtala-Obasanjo regime finally fulfilled its pledge to install a democratically-elected government after one decade and half of military dictatorship. The democratic process which involved five political parties finally culminated in the elections of parliamentarians at the ward level to the state and federal arms of government. The five registered political parties of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by the indomitable Chief Obafemi Awolowo controlled five states in the South West: Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo and Bendel. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) led by Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari controlled the federal government and seven other states namely: Sokoto, Kwara, Bauchi, Niger, Rivers, Cross Rivers and Benue. The third political party, the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), led by the first Governor-General of Nigeria, doyen of African nationalism and the Owelle of Onitsha, Dr. Right The Honorable, Nnamdi Azikiwe which produced three state governors of Plateau, Imo and Anambra. The Great Nigerian Peoples Party (GNPP) led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, the apostle of “politics without bitterness” controlled the States of Borno and Gongola while Malam Aminu Kano, the leader of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) controlled Kano ad Kaduna States.

THE SHAPE AND STRUCTURE OF NIGERIA’S SECOND REPUBLIC (1979-1983)

STATE GOVERNORS

ANAMBRA: Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo (NPP) BAUCHI: Alhaji Ibrahim Tatari Alli (NPN) BENUE: Mr. Aper Aku (NPN) BENDEL: Prof. Ambrose Folorunsho Alli (UPN) BORNO: Alhaji Mohammad Goni (GNPP) CROSS RIVERS STATE: IMO: Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe (GNPP) KWARA: Alhaji Adamu Attah (NPN) LAGOS: Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (UPN) NIGER: Alhaji Anwal Ibrahim (NPN) GONGOLA: Alhaji Abubakar Barde (GNPP), KANO: Alhaji Abubakar Rimi (PRP) KADUNA: Alhaji Balarabe Musa (PRP), ONDO: Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin (UPN), OYO: Chief Bola Ige (UPN) OGUN: Chief Olabisi Onabanjo (UPN) RIVERS: Chief Melford Okilo (NPN) SOKOTO: Alhaji Sani Kangiwa

THE 1979 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION HELD ON AUGUST 11, 1979 IN NIGERIA

Name of Electoral Body: Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO)

Chief Electoral Chairman: Mr. Michael Ani Secretary: Alhaji Ahmed Kurfi

Registered Voters

48,499,091
Chief MKO Abiola pitched his political tent with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). The structure of the party, its membership organization and leadership were capitalist in nature and most of the nation’s rich men and women, both genuine and counterfeit millionaires belonged to the NPN. The party chairman was a Yoruba man, Chief Adisa Meredith Akinloye from Ibadan…………………………………………………………………

THE BIRTH OF THE CONCORD PRESS OF NIGERIA

Chief Abiola decided to call his own newspaper, the National Concord Newspapers. Launched into the newsstands about eight months after the 1979 general election, the mission of the newspaper from the onset was political. It advertised its motto as “Truth is Constant,” but the mission to give Awo’s Nigerian Tribune based in Ibadan a fight for the political destiny of the South West was unmistakable………………………………………….

ABIOLA BROKE RANKS WITH HIS PARTY: THE NPN
Chief Abiola came to the NPN not as a follower or party financier but as a leader. He was the State Chairman of the party in his home state of Ogun but with only one or two members in the State House of Assembly at Abeokuta, the NPN was virtually non-existent in Ogun State, the birth place of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, unarguably the leaders of the Yoruba race

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