Aminu Kano

==== 1964 general election ====
After UMBC ended its alliance with the Action Group, NEPU and UMBC formed the [[Northern Progressive Front]] (NPF), aiming to "breakup of the monolithic Northern Region, to give adequate voice to the larger minority groups". The KPP and other smaller groups joined the NPF, with hopes of establishing a separate, independent Kano state. As the country approached elections, all three regions experienced heightened unrest and allegations of corruption. In Kano, Aminu, as NEPU's leader, met with [[Ibrahim Musa Gashash|Ibrahim Gashash]], NPC party leader, to mitigate potential violence by agreeing on electoral conduct. Gashash agreed to persuade his party leaders to avoid bloody clashes "but all to no avail". On December 28, just two days before the election, President [[Nnamdi Azikiwe|Azikiwe]] urged Prime Minister Balewa to postpone the election for six months due to escalating unrest and requested UN monitoring. Balewa rejected the request, claiming that it was beyond his authority. The chairman of the [[Independent National Electoral Commission|Federal Electoral Commission]], without consulting other members, also dismissed it. Which led to three out of six commission members resigning. The perceived injustices and alleged corruption lead to several candidates and parties to boycott the election, resulting in 'lopsided' results. Aminu lost his Kano East constituency to the NPC candidate, [[Mahmud Dantata]], son of [[Alhassan Dantata]] and former NEPU member, with Dantata receiving 1,700 votes against Aminu's 690 out of 40,000 eligible voters.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=312}}<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=207-211}}
[[File:Aminu Kano addresses his constituents.png|left|thumb|A political rally of Aminu during the 1960s]]
Following the election, Aminu and the central working committee of NEPU organised a convention to restrategise. A "White Paper on Political Problems Facing Nigeria" was written to be presented, which evaluated NEPU's role and proposed organisational adjustments. This convention marked the largest in the party's history, with delegates from hundreds of branches across the North in attendance. Among the topics discussed included the possibility of the unification of all opposition political parties in the North, the formation of an "all-encompassing national party", the creation of new states, establishing a scholarship aid. The convention also led to the inception of the [[Kano State Movement]] (KSM), comprising NEPU, KPP, and some dissident NPC members. On April 14, 1965, a mass gathering was held to inaugurate the KSM, drawing one of the largest crowds in Northern Nigerian political history. Ahmadu Trader, Aminu's long-time friend, was appointed its first president and Aminu its political adviser.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=213-215}} The KSM's primary goal was the formation of a separate Kano state.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=271}}

In 1965, Prime Minister Balewa appointed Aminu as a UN delegate. Aminu represented Nigeria at the 1965 [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development]]. Upon his return from UN duties, on 6 January 1966, Aminu traveled from Lagos to Kano to attend a NEPU conference, where discussions on ways to restrategise continued. Upon his arrival in Kano, Aminu was informed through [[Abubakar Gumi]], the Grand Khadi ([[Chief justice|Chief Justice]]) of the [[Northern Region, Nigeria|Northern Region]] and Aminu's former colleague in Maru, about a secret meeting arranged by [[Ahmadu Bello]], who was then in [[Mecca]]. The meeting was to be between the three of them and was scheduled for 16 January 1966. However, just before the meeting could take place, Bello was assassinated on 15 January. While Bello's intentions for the meeting remain unclear due to his untimely demise, Gumi's opinion was that he might have been reconsidering the level of repression in the North and sought to negotiate an electoral agreement for the upcoming Northern Regional Assembly elections.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=219}}