Eyo Ita Esua (14 January 1901 – 6 December 1973) was a Nigerian teacher and trade unionist who was at the helm of the

Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence. Early life Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...

's government's Federal Electoral Commission in the

Nigerian First Republic The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system. The period between 1 October 1960, ...

. Esua was a school master and a founder member of the

Nigeria Union of Teachers {{short description, Trade union in Nigeria Nigeria Union of Teachers is a major trade union in Nigeria. It was formed to create a united front for practitioners of the teaching profession in the country. Major objectives of the union covers the imp ...

. He was the first full-time general secretary of the union from 1943 until his retirement in 1964. He was an Efik, Calabar man, renowned for his dedication to duty and uprightness. The Esua-led commission organized the December 1964 election, which was mired in controversy. Two members of the commission disagreed with the chairman and resigned from the commission. Esua also conducted the 1965 Western Region election, which was violent and was disputed by the opposition United Party Grand Alliance. A few days before these elections Esua acknowledged that his organisation could not guarantee a free and fair poll. The widespread electoral abuses may have been a factor in the success of the military coup of January 1966 in which Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esua, Eyo 1901 births 1973 deaths Nigerian civil servants 20th-century Nigerian educators Ibibio people