How British Govt. Rigged Nigeria’s First Election In Favour Of The North, Colonial Officer Reveals

• “I learned, and the Governor-General himself confirmed this to me, that the elections were rigged, contrived. The intention was that the North should rule Nigeria.” – Harold Smith

Five Decades after Nigeria’s independence, Harold Smith, a labour officer who served under the British Colonial Government made some startling revelations regarding Nigeria’s first and most important election, held in 1959 to usher in Nigeria’s independence.

Smith, who spoke with Passion TV in an interview said that by the Governor-General’s admission, the colonial government had falsified the outcome of the polls to favour the Northern region which at the time seemed more subservient to the colonial powers.

As gathered by EKO HOT BLOG, Smith had earlier appeared in a BBC interview, where he shared a mind-boggling account of how the British Government manoeuvred the 1959 elections in favour of the North due to an unholy pact it struck with the region before relinquishing the reins of power in 1960.

“from 1955 to 1960, we were based in Lagos. I was on the staff of the Department of Labour. I was largely occupied with employment problems and statistics and international reports.”

“I only intended to stay in Lagos for two tours of duty, although because of this conflict with the elections, there were difficulties. Actually, government wouldn’t let me leave the civil service. They were determined that I should stay in civil service after my two tours and I was offered very considerable incentives to stay and work for government,” Mr. Smith said while responding to a question on how long he spent in Nigeria during the colonial era.

“Primarily, this was because because I had access to state secrets. I learned, and the Governor-General himself confirmed this to me, that the elections were rigged, contrived. The intention was that the North should rule Nigeria.”

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“Even in ’56, the Northern leaders were very proud and were saying that if they couldn’t run Nigeria, never mind elections, they might not join Nigeria, they might leave.”

“And we all thought, how will they survive? there were no industries, not a great deal of Agriculture, this wasn’t very practical at all, and then the Governor-General seemed to be thinking that the North couldn’t, even if it won an election, rule Nigeria by itself, the south wouldn’t stand for that. So there had to be a partner, either the Igbos in the East or the Yorubas in the West to team up with the North. What he didn’t want, was for the two southern parts, either the Igbos or the Yorubas to team up and form the government, because he believed the North wouldn’t tolerate that, and talked about leaving the country.”

“So as I learned, in a small way at first, but very rapidly I learned about the election fixing, and as I said, this was confirmed to me by the Governor-General. He actually said that he wanted me to know the truth because he wanted me to know how much trouble I was in.”

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“I have to tell you, the British were counting the votes, and the British cannot be trusted. They look after their friends. Loyalty is a big thing for the British and we were friends with the Emirs of the North. We looked on people like Enahoro and Awolowo as rather dangerous people.”

“For most Europeans who were closely watching this we were disgusted, we thought this really had been manipulated, this election, it was unworthy of the British people. This was no honest, straightforward thing that you would expect Britain, the mother of Parliaments to do. This was cheap and low and criminal, and I opposed it, I opposed it then and I’ve opposed it ever since and I’m telling you the truth. I was warned, if I told you this, this state secret, my life could be forfeit.”

Smith also took time to explain why Nnamdi Azikiwe of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons People’s Party, had to settle for the largely ceremonial role of Governor-General, while his Northern counterpart, Tafawa Balewa had the real power as Prime Minister.

He said that while looking to raise money for his political campaign, Azikiwe had floated his own bank as a faćade to secure backhanded loans from nationalized marketing boards which put him at risk of being investigated for financial fraud, hence, the British capitalized on his financial impropriety to blackmail the journalist into settling for a ceremonial role.

“He was blackmailed to do our bidding. We told Dr. Azikiwe that he could go to prison if an inquiry was carried out into his bank and his financial circumstances.”

The 1959 General Elections, the first of its kind, came on the heels of Britain’s concession to cede power to Nigeria to constitute its own government.

The Parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria on 12 December 1959. The result was a victory for the Northern People’s Congress, which won 134 of the 312 seats in the House of Representatives, despite the Action Group winning more votes.

The elections consequently produced Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Nigeria’s first Prime Minister and perhaps set the stage for Nigeria’s unceasing ethnic jingoisms amongst it fragmented ethnicities.

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