{{Short description, Political party in the Nigerian Second Republic The Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) was one of the major

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

that contested elections in the Nigerian Second Republic. The party was made up of three major groups: the

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Progressives, Club 19, and the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

Council of Understanding. The Lagos progressives included some Lagos based NCNC politicians such as Adeniran Ogunsanya, T.O.S. Benson and Kola Balogun. The National Council of understanding was led by Waziri while Club 19 had Matthew Mbu, Solomon Lar,

Omo Omoruyi Omo or OMO may refer to: Geography Ethiopia * Omo River (Ethiopia), in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile Basin and namesake for all the topics below * Omo Nada, one of the woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia ...

Paul Unongo Paul Iyorpuu Unongo (September 26, 1935 – November 29, 2022), commonly known as Wantaregh Paul Unongo among his kinsmen, the Tiv people, was a Nigerian Nationalism, nationalist, politician, statesman, teacher, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He ...

, Antonio Fernandez and others as members. Though the party was formed to create a national outlook, the exit of Waziri Ibrahim, led to an erosion of politics without borders. Waziri's exit was precipitated because he wanted to be the chairman and also the presidential candidate of the party. The party later came to be seen as an eastern Nigerian party, though it had scores of support in

Plateau State Plateau is a northern states of Nigeria, Nigerian state. It is located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and Tourism". Th ...

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

and Lagos. The party tried to promote

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Sustained at a larger scale, it may lead to social transformation or societal transformat ...

as vital ingredients of its mission. In 1979, the party chose former president

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 ...

as its presidential candidate. In states like

Imo State Imo () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo R ...

, leaders such as the governor, Sam Mbakwe were elected with landslide victories (over 80%) in the

Legislative, Gubernatorial and Presidential Elections in Nigeria in 1979. In

, the NPP Campaign Director, Party Secretary and principal architect in electing Sam Mbakwe, was Dr. Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu. Before the 1979 elections, the party took some political hits, about 254 of its candidates were disqualified from contesting electoral seats, the second most out of the five major parties. Nevertheless, the party won about 17% of the House of Representative seats and three gubernatorial elections.

Second Republic

During the Second Republic, the

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigeri ...

's (NPN) weak hold on the House of Assembly led to an alliance between the NPP and the NPN. The NPP submitted a few candidates for ministerial appointments to consummate the alliance. NPP personalities such as Ishaya Audu, a vice presidential candidate of the party, were selected as ministers. However, the accord hit the rocks in 1981, and Adeniran Ogunsanya, the chairman of the party, asked all ministers to resign; many did not heed his call and some transferred to the NPN.

References

*Ergun Ozbudun,

Myron Weiner Myron Weiner (11 March 1931 – 3 June 1999) was an American political scientist and renowned scholar of India, South Asia, internal and international migration, ethnic conflict, child labor, democratization, political demography, and the politic ...

; ''Competitive Elections in Developing Countries'', Duke University Press, 1987 Defunct political parties in Nigeria