Reports
| Published date | 01 April 1958 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1958.tb01163.x |
| Date | 01 April 1958 |
10
7
Reports
NIGERIA.
WESTERN
REGION
Report
on
the
Holding
if
the
1956
Parliamentary
Election'
to
the
Western
House
if
Assembly,
by P. H. Balmer, Electoral Com-
missioner. Government Printer, Western Region, Nigeria
and
from Crown
Agents for Oversea Governments
and
Administrations London,
1957;
9d; pp.
21.
Tars is
the
account by
the
Electoral Commissioner of
the
parliamentary
elections held in
the
Western Region of Nigeria in
May
1956.
It
is everything
thai such a report should be; well
and
clearly written,
both
interesting
and
Instructive
and
amodel of its kind.
These were the first elections in the Western Region held on
what
amounted
to practically auniversal franchise,
and
the
preparation
of the new electoral
register was
the
responsibility of the Electoral Commissioner in addition to
the holding
of
the elections themselves.
Preparation
if
the
Register
The
preparation of the register was described in an article in this
Journal
in
January
195i,
and
the present account is interesting in
that
it gives
greater
?etail of certain aspects of
the
task,
and
also continues
the
story
up
to
and
InclUding
the
elections.
The
magnitude of
the
task of registration is brought
Outin
the
report
by
the
fact
that
between
7,500
and
8,000
registration officers
'Were
required, each assisted by two assistant registration officers,
and
in all
35,000
registration
and
election officials were employed.
Of
these less
than
150
Ｇｗ･ｾ･
non-Nigerians,
and
atotal
of
nearly
2,000,000
names
out
of an electorate
estimated at
3,000,000
were finally registered.
To
have obtained the voluntary
ｾＺｧｩｳｴｲ｡ｴｩｯｮ
of two-thirds of
the
electorate was no
mean
achievement
and
speaks
19h1y
of
the
public support for the ballot-box type of election.
The
printing of the register in the time allowed by the Electoral Regulations
pr?ved a formidable task which was
made
more difficult by a dispute in
the
Pflnting
trade
in the
United
Kingdom. Although
the
main
bulk of the register
ｾ｡ｳ
printed in Nigeria
parts
were also printed in Holland,
the
Gold Coast
and
t e United Kingdom.
Nomination
if
Candidates
b
The
period for nominations
ran
for seven days
prior
to
the
fourteenth
day
efore the election,
and
up to
the
eighth
day
before
the
election
any
candidate
'Was
able to withdraw his nomination without penalty
and
with
the knowledge
that his deposit of
£25
would be returned to him.
In
fact only eight
out
of
229
Persons nominated withdrew their nomination
and
the
report states
that
there
ｾｯｕｬ､
be
much
advantage in closing finally
the
acceptance of nominations on
t e fourteenth
day
before the election.
The
loss of six days increased heavily
the
ｾｾｧ｡ｮｩｳ｡ｴｩｯｮ｡ｬ
problems of
the
electoral officers,
and
it also tended to confuse
eelectorate as to the candidates who were or were not standing for election.
Jroting
Arrangements
and
Polling
It
'Was
not
until after the eighth
day
before
the
election
that
electoral officers
--.--.
.
ｬ＾ｨｩｉｾ･･ｗｨＢｾ･
Preparation of the Register of Electors in the Western Region of Nigeria" by
Ip !taker,
Journal
of
African
Administration,
Vol.
IX,
No. I,
January
1957, p. 23.
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