THE PREPARATION OF THE REGISTER OF ELECTORS IN THE WESTERN REGION OF NIGERIA, 1955‐561
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1957.tb01086.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1957 |
| Author | Philip Whitaker |
| Date | 01 January 1957 |
PR EP A RA TI ON OF TH E R EG IS T ER OF ELE CT OR S , W. N IG ER IA 2 3
t h e p r e p a r a t io n o f t h e r e g i s t e r o f e l e c t o r s
IN T HE W EST ER N R EG IO N OF NI GE RI A,
19 55 -561
by P hi li p W h ita k er
Le ct ur er i n P o lit ica l Sc ie nce , U n iv er si ty Co lleg e o f E a st A fr ic a
Th e 195 5 r eg is tra ti on o f e lec to rs in th e W es te rn R eg ion w as b y no m ea ns th e
fir st t im e a re gi ste r h ad be en co mp ile d i n t h at p ar t o f th e w or ld. La go s a nd
Ca la ba r h a d re tu rn e d di re ctl y el ec ted m e mb er s to th e Le gi sla tiv e C oun cil s inc e
1922 , bu t in th is c ase t he el ec tor at e h ad be en re st ric te d to a s ma ll n um b er of
so ph is tic ate d p ers on s li vin g in ur b an are as . T h e W e ste rn Ho us e of A ss em bl y,
)vh ich wa s in b ein g wh en th e 19 56 r eg ist er wa s c om pi led , h a d i nd ee d b ee n e le cte d
in dir ec tly , b ut ev en s o th e R eg io n wa s no t w it ho u t re ce nt exp er ien ce of di re ct
ele cti on s w it h a w ide fra nc hi se, a n d t he ir a tte n d an t re gi st rat io ns : l arg e
nu m be rs of lo ca l au th or it ies ha d b een ele cte d u nd er th e W es te rn R eg io n L oca l
G ov ern m en t La w of 1 952 * 2 a nd in 195 4 th er e h ad be en vo ti ng for me m be rs o f
th e F ed er al H o use of R e pr es en tat iv es .
Le sso ns le ar ne d i n t he t wo l as t-n am e d el ect ion s w e re i nc or po ra te d i n t he
P ar lia m en ta ry a nd L oc al G ov er nm en t E l ec to ral R eg u lat ion s of 19 55. Th ese
Pr ov ide d fo r a com m on re gi ste r of ele cto rs for bo th ty pe s o f el ect ion s, w i th a
ne ar ly u niv er sa l fra nc his e. T he re w as m u ch t h at w a s n ov el in th e 1 955 re gu la
tio ns an d pu tt in g th em i nto e ffe ct w as so me th in g of a n e xp er im en t. I t na tu ra ll y
ga ve ri se to p ro bl em s t ha t a re li ke ly to o cc ur el sew he re , w h ere ve r p o pu la r
Se ct io ns a t an y lev el ta ke p lac e, a nd t he i nd ep en d en t o bs er va tio n s m a de b y th e
Wr iter— in t he c ou rse o f a s tu dy of th e ge ne ral el ec tio n to th e W e st ern H o us e o f
A sse mb ly wh ic h to ok p lac e in M a y, 19 56— m a y th ere fo re b e of m ore t h an l oc al
in tere st.
Re gi str ati on Off icia ls
( I n th e w o rk of c om p ilin g th e r eg ist er, as in all s ph er es o f th e pu bl ic s erv ice ,
N ige ri an iza tio n’ w as t he w a tch w ord . E a ch c on s titu e nc y wa s i n th e ch ar ge of a
reg is tra ti on o ffic er, w ho w as ge ne ra lly t he se cre ta ry t o th e d iv isio na l or d is tri ct
cpu nci l. H e w as em p ow er ed to ap po in t a su it ab le n um b er o f a s sis ta nt r eg is tra
tio n o ffice rs t o m a n t he m a ny re gi st rat io n o ffice s w hic h w er e s et u p in co m
pl ian ce wi th t he r eg ul at io n th a t no p er son i n a re g ist ra tio n a re a wa s to h av e to
tra v el m or e t ha n th re e m ile s t o o ne o f th es e ; no r w as a r eg is tra ti on ar ea to
c° nt ain m o re th an 5 00 vo te rs. T h ese re g ist ra tio n ar ea s con si ste d o f l oca l c ou nci l
'v’ar ds or , if t he se w ar ds w er e l ar ge, o f p a rt s of th em an d, in co ns eq uen ce , som e
o.5 00 a s sis ta nt re gi st ra tio n off icer s h ad t o b e ap p oi nte d in al l. In t he 1 954
I'e de ral el ect ion s, w her e t he c on sti tu en cie s w er e l arg er , t he r eg is tra ti on h ad be en
Co ndu cte d b y th e Re si de nts a nd d is tri ct off icer s, wi th su b ord in at e sta ff re cru it ed
th em . I n 1 955 , ho we ve r, a dm i ni str at iv e of fice rs we re g iv en n o fo rm al r ole ,
fi° ugh t he y w ere n at ur al ly a va ila bl e to a dv ise . It w ou ld a pp e ar th a t th is
'ffiv ice w as n ot ex te ns iv ely so ug ht.
G ene ral s up er vis io n ov e r th e w hol e op e rat io n w as e n tru s te d to an E le cto ra l
°tt im iss ion er w ho, w i th hi s s en ior a ss is tan t, w er e t h e o nl y t wo E u ro pe an s
j, ’Th e w ri ter w en t t o W e ste rn N ige ria in J an u ar y 1956 , u nd er th e au spi ces o f th e
.A cu ity of So cia l an d E co no mi c St ud ies of th e Un iv ers ity of M a nch est er, t o s urv ey th e
pr epa rat ion s for th e G en era l E lec tio n w hic h to ok pl ace in M ay . He was pr ese n t in t he
egio n dur in g th e ele ctio n.
2We ste rn R egio n. N o. 1 of 1953.
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