ZIK’S COSTLY MISTAKE, OUT OF IGNORANCE OR FEAR?….THE NORTH WILL NEVER STOP USING INTIMIDATION TO WIN ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA.

  
Nigerian Election crisis widens.

Thursday December 31st 1964, New York Times.

The President Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe is a leader of the Grand Alliance . But it is he who must authorize the winning party (Nigerian National Alliance Party) to form a party.
Late last night, the Grand Alliance declared that it would not accept any government based on the election. It called on the President to convene a congress to divide the nation’s assets and to dissolve the federation peacefully.
…..Millions of voters stayed home in the south, and the boycott was virtually complete in the Eastern Region where polling places were either destroyed or closed to electoral officials.

Friday January 1st 1965, New York Times

President Nnamdi Azikiwe tonight cancelled a speech whose text had said he would rather resign than name a new government on the basis of the (December 30) Wednesday’s parliamentary election.
…..In the text made public earlier in the day, President Azikiwe described Nigeria as a nation charged with suspicion, fear and hatred. Wednesday’s elections, Nigeria’s first since independence from Britain in 1960, were boycotted by millions of southern supporters of the United Progressive Grand Alliance. Grand Alliance partisans backed by President Azikiwe had pressed for a postponement of the balloting on the ground that scores of their candidates had been denied the freedom to run in many sections of the country, especially the Northern Region. The boycott was called on the eve of the voting when the Government of Sir Abubakar refused to support postponement.
Thereupon, leaders declared their refusal to accept any government based on the results of the election and called for a conference to divide the nation’s assets and break up the federation. This announcement heightened fears among foreign diplomats and many Nigerians here that the oil-rich Eastern Region, the base of President Azikiwe’s political strength, was seeking to secede.
In the text that was withdrawn, the President said ” All Nigerian patriots must hang their heads in shame today. The first national post-independence general election has been the signal for assaults on the constitution and various acts of lawlessness hitherto unknown in this intensity in the history of this country.” Still incomplete return from Wednesday’s elections give the National Alliance 173 of the 312 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament.
The President asserted that there had been curfews and refusal to allow open campaigning in certain areas. He said road blocks had been set up to prevent the entry of political opponents into towns. He also spoke of mass arrest, intimidation and appeals to old tribal hatreds.

Saturday January 2nd 1965, New York Times

…….In his speech, the President said he had pressed for a new election within six months, to be supervised by the United Nations. Sir Abubakar rejected this on the grounds that Wednesday’s polling was valid and that to bring in the United Nations would show that we lacked confidence in ourselves.

Sunday January 3rd 1965, New York Times

President Nnamdi Azikiwe said tonight that he would appoint a new government headed by Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa under a compromise solution of the election crisis, which has threatened to break up Nigeria’s federation.
……The East, a stronghold of the opposition United Progressive Grand Alliance, conceded a key point: it agreed to drop its demand for new nationwide election. Instead, a new election is set for districts where ballot boycott was heaviest. Opposition candidates had complained of widespread intimidation in their attempts to run in the North and in some pro-Government areas of the West. The Northern Region’s election results will stand.