Aminu Kano

==== 1979 Nigerian election ====
{{Main articles|1979 Nigerian presidential election}}
Elections were held between 7 July and 11 August in 1979. Only five parties were allowed to contest in these elections, apart from the NPN and PRP, the other three were Awolowo led [[Unity Party of Nigeria]] (UPN), Azikiwe led [[Nigerian People's Party]] (NPP), and the [[Great Nigeria People's Party]] (GNPP), led by [[Waziri Ibrahim]], a former NPC politician. The election was the first held in 15 years and the first in Northern Nigeria that allowed women to participate.

Aminu was chosen as PRP's presidential candidate, however, he was refused clearance by [[FEDECO]] to contest due to tax irregularities, and was required to submit "more convincing evidence". Aminu denied liability for any tax other than the flat rate of tax imposed on all Nigerians irrespective of income. He was eventually cleared after a court declaration was released supporting Aminu's claim of not missing any tax payment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ojo |first=Olatunde J. B. |date=1981 |title=The Impact of Personality and Ethnicity on the Nigerian Elections of 1979 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4185981 |journal=Africa Today |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=47–58 |issn=0001-9887}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Panter-Brick |first=Keith |date=1979 |title=Nigeria: The 1979 Elections |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40173962 |journal=Africa Spectrum |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=317–335 |issn=0002-0397}}</ref>
[[File:Map of the 1979 Nigerian presidential election.svg|thumb|Results of the 1979 Nigerian presidential election]]
It became increasingly apparent that the NPN was "on its way to power" as the elections progressed. After the party experienced widespread success during the [[1979 Nigerian parliamentary election|National Assembly election]], the participating parties began proposing and forming alliances. On July 28, three out of the five parties — namely UPN, NPP, and GNPP — met in Lagos to form an alliance against the NPN. The PRP was invited to join this alliance but did not respond.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 1979 |title=NIGERIA: LEADERS OF NIGERIAN PARTIES MEET TO NEGOTIATE ALLIANCE TO OPPOSE THE NPN. |url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/238002 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Reuters Archive Licensing |language=en |type=Video}}</ref> A similar arrangement was proposed to the PRP by the NPN through Shehu Shagari, NPN's presidential candidate. In his autobiography, he claimed to have made this proposal while Aminu was still trying to get FEDECO to clear him. He tried to convince Aminu to withdraw from the presidential race "since we both knew his chances to be bleak". In return, the PRP could focus more on other elections and "participate in an NPN federal government". According to Shagari, Aminu agreed but on two conditions: he would consult his party members and seek approval, and also challenge FEDECO's decision in court in order to "defend his good name". Aminu was cleared on 1 August 1979, hours before the deadline for presidential nominations. He flew from Kano to Lagos on the same day to file his nomination papers with FEDECO. This led Shagari to conclude that the PRP did not endorse their agreement.<ref name=":30" />{{Rp|page=225}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-01-22 |title=How Aminu Kano fought tax certificate saga |url=https://dailytrust.com/how-aminu-kano-fought-tax-certificate-saga/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Daily Trust |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":33">{{Cite book |last=Mwakikagile |first=Godfrey |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gqTjUjdvTQwC |title=Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria |date=2001 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=978-1-56072-967-9 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=90}}

The presidential election held on 11 August saw Aminu winning only in his home state of Kano, where he garnered 76% of the votes. Nationwide, he received 1,732,113 votes, amounting to 10% of the total votes cast.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=187}} The PRP framed the election as a [[class struggle]] in Kano and conducted an extensive propaganda campaign to promote this narrative, contributing to the party's significant success in the state.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=110}}<ref name=":33" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bienen |first=Henry |url=http://archive.org/details/politicalconflic0000bien |title=Political conflict and economic change in Nigeria |date=1985 |publisher=London, England ; Totowa, N.J. : F. Cass |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-135-17409-5}}</ref>{{Rp|page=83}} Additionally, the PRP secured victories in two gubernatorial elections: [[Abubakar Rimi]] in [[1979 Kano State gubernatorial election|Kano]] (with 79% of the votes) and [[Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa|Balarabe Musa]] in [[1979 Kaduna State gubernatorial election|Kaduna]] (with 45% of the votes). According to Shagari, Aminu was a skillful campaigner and "genuinely cared about people and empathized with them pretty well" but failed to be more successful nationwide because "his PRP lacked the large organizational base and resources necessary for an effective nationwide campaign".<ref name=":30" />{{Rp|page=223}}

On 16 August, FEDECO announced the results of the presidential election. Shagari was declared the winner with 5,688,857 votes nationwide.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=139}}

===== Reactions =====
FEDECO's announcement was controversial, with Azikiwe, representing the four unsuccessful parties, rejecting "in its entirety and without any reservation the declaration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as president-elect".<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=145}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=NIGERIA: UNSUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES OPPOSE DECLARATION OF NEW PRESIDENT BY ELECTORAL COMMISSION. |url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1053477 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=Reuters Archive Licensing |language=en |type=video}}</ref>  Awolowo appealed to the [[Supreme Court of Nigeria|Supreme Court]], which dismissed the appeal.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=148}} 

After the declaration of Shagari as president-elect, the alliance between the opposing parties, which now included PRP, stregnthened, leading the ruling NPN to search for its own alliance. They approached the other four parties to initiate talks, which the PRP was the first to accept, according to Shagari. However, it was Azikiwe's NPP that ended up reaching an 'accord' with the ruling party. The terms of the accord were finalized by representatives of the two parties on August 22, two days after Azikiwe's address rejecting Shagari's declaration. Meetings regarding the terms of the accord began on August 20, the same day as the speech. According to historian [[Oyeleye Oyediran]], one of the agreements made during the meetings concerned Aminu, outlining that "special arrangements were to be made for Alhaji Aminu Kano, leader of the PRP, were his party to join the alliance."<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|pages=156-158}}

Over a year into Shagari's administration, the NPN-NPP accord broke down despite the allocation of key leadership positions to NPP members by the ruling party. The accord formally ended on 6 July 1981, after a joint agreement from the two parties.<ref name=":34">{{Cite journal |last=Diamond |first=Larry |author-link=Larry Diamond |date=1982 |title=Cleavage, Conflict, and Anxiety in the Second Nigerian Republic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/160342 |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=629–668 |issn=0022-278X}}</ref>