1979 Nigerian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria on 7 July 1979 for the first time since 1964 to elect a Senate and House of Representatives on 14 July. The result was a victory for the National Party of Nigeria, which won 36 of the 95 Senate seats and 168 of the 449 House seats.[1] It formed a coalition with the Nigerian People's Party in order to gain a majority.[2] Voter turnout was just 30.7% in the House election.[3]

Electoral system

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Members of both houses were elected using the single-member plurality electoral system. Each State was divided into five districts, each of which elected a Senator. Each State was also allocated a number of seats in the House of Representatives based on its proportion of the population.[4]

Results

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Senate

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PartyVotes%Seats
National Party of Nigeria4,032,32932.7536
Unity Party of Nigeria2,835,36223.0328
Nigerian People's Party2,145,85917.4316
Great Nigeria People's Party1,847,01915.008
People's Redemption Party1,453,53811.807
Total12,314,107100.0095
Total votes12,532,195
Registered voters/turnout48,633,78225.77
Source: Nohlen et al.

Results by state

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State NPN UPN NPP GNPP PRP
Anambra 0 0 5 0 0
Bauchi 5 0 0 0 0
Bendel 1 4 0 0 0
Benue 5 0 0 0 0
Borno 1 0 0 4 0
Cross River 3 0 0 2 0
Gongola 1 2 0 2 0
Imo 0 0 5 0 0
Kaduna 3 0 0 0 2
Kano 0 0 0 0 5
Kwara 3 2 0 0 0
Lagos 0 5 0 0 0
Niger 5 0 0 0 0
Ogun 0 5 0 0 0
Ondo 0 5 0 0 0
Oyo 0 5 0 0 0
Plateau 1 0 4 0 0
Rivers 3 0 2 0 0
Sokoto 5 0 0 0 0
Source: Oyediran

House of Representatives

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PartyVotes%Seats
National Party of Nigeria5,325,68035.6168
Unity Party of Nigeria3,691,55324.6111
Nigerian People's Party2,391,27916.078
People's Redemption Party49
Great Nigeria People's Party43
Total449
Total votes14,941,555
Registered voters/turnout48,633,78230.72
Source: Nohlen et al.

By state

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State NPN UPN NPP GNPP PRP
Anambra 3 0 26 0 0
Bauchi 18 0 1 1 0
Bendel 6 12 2 0 0
Benue 18 0 1 0 0
Borno 2 0 0 22 0
Cross River 22 2 0 4 0
Gongola 5 7 1 8 0
Imo 2 0 28 0 0
Kaduna 19 1 2 1 10
Kano 7 0 0 0 39
Kwara 8 5 0 1 0
Lagos 0 12 0 0 0
Niger 10 0 0 0 0
Ogun 0 12 0 0 0
Ondo 0 22 0 0 0
Oyo 4 38 0 0 0
Plateau 3 0 13 0 0
Rivers 10 0 4 0 0
Sokoto 31 0 0 6 0
Source: Oyediran

References

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  1. ^ Elections in Nigeria African Elections Database
  2. ^ Nigeria Inter-Parliamentary Union
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p707 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
  4. ^ Oyediran, Oyeleye (1981). The Nigerian 1979 elections. Illupeju, Lagos: Macmillan Nigeria. ISBN 0333317858.