1) According to the World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties, the Nigerian People's Party (NPP) is a coalition of several smaller groups: the National Union Council for Understanding (NUCU) led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, Club 19, the Committee for National Unity, and the Progressive Front (1987, 11:817).

The first convention of the NPP was held in November 1978 (Ibid.). During the convention, the southern members refused to make Waziri both the chairman and the presidential candidate (Ibid.). Waziri was prompted to quit the party and created the Great Nigerian People's Party (GNPP) (Ibid.). At a hastily assembled second convention, Dr. Nnmandi Azikiwe, the most popular Ibo politician and former leader of the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), was chosen as the NPP presidential candidate.(Ibid.; Reuters 3 Nov. 1989). Reuters reported that after the 1979 elections the NPP formed an alliance with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) of Shehu Shagari (Ibid.). This alliance, which has provided cabinet jobs and diplomatic appointments for Ibos, was ended by Shagari, in 1981, following increasing demands by Azikiwe for his party (Ibid.). For further information please refer to the attached documents.

2) Specific information regarding the ill-treatment of the GNPP members by the Nigerian government currently available at the IRBDC in Ottawa is scarce.

All political parties were dissolved in 1983 when the military, led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari, took over the civilian government (Kurian 1987, 11:1479; Country Reports 1983 1984, 267). In 1984, Major General Muhammadu Buhari had suspended sections of the 1979 constitution, namely those guaranteeing such democratic features as free elections and political parties and such fundamental individual rights as due process and habeas corpus (Kurian 1987, 11:1489; Country Reports 1984 1985, 243). According to The Xinhua General Overseas News Service, in 1984, the Nigerian police in Lagos ordered all former members of the NPP and the GNPP, as well as other political parties, to report to police headquarters along with their passports within 48 hours (10 Jan. 1984). The news agency further reported that those who failed to respond to the order before 11 January 1984 would be arrested or declared wanted (Ibid.). Reports on any arrests following this order are currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.

On 27 August 1985, military officers overthrew the 20 month old government of Major General Muhammadu Buhari and installed Major General Ibrahim Babangida as president (Kurian 1987, 11: 1475; (Country Reports 1985 1986, 238). The ban on party politics was lifted in 1989 (Africa Watch Oct. 1991, 5). General Bagandida announced that only two government-created parties would be authorized: the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) (Human Rights Watch World Report 1990 Oct. 1991, 73). For additional information please refer to the articles attached to this response.
Bibliography

Africa Watch. October 1991. Nigeria: On the Eve of "Change" Transition to What?. New York: Africa Watch.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1987. Kurian, George ed. Facts On File.

Human Rights Watch. January 1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1990. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Legum, Colin and Doro Marion E. 1989. Africa Contemporary Record 1987-88. New York: Africana Publishing Company.

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 10 January 1984. "Leaders of Banned Nigerian Political Parties Asked to Report to Police."

Reuters. 3 November 1989. "Nigeria's First President Nnambi Azikiwe is Dead."

U.S Department of State. 1984. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1983. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S Department of State. 1985. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

U.S Department of State. 1986. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1985. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. 1987. Delury, George ed. Vol. II. Facts On Files Publications.
Attachments

Africa Watch. October 1991. Nigeria: On the Eve of "Change" Transition to What?. New York: Africa Watch.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1987. Kurian, George. Facts On File.

Human Rights Watch. January 1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1990. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Legum, Colin and Doro Marion E. 1989. Africa Contemporary Record 1987-88. New York: Africana Publishing Company.

Reuters. 3 November 1989. "Nigeria's First President Nnambi Azikiwe is Dead."

The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 10 January 1984. "Leaders of Banned Nigerian Political Parties Asked to Report to Police."

World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. 1987. Delury, Georges. Vol. II. Facts On Files Publications.