Ahmadu Bello

Bello co-founded the Northern People's Congress (NPC), which became the dominant political party in Northern Nigeria. The NPC advocated for Northern interests, gradual independence, and a federal system that preserved regional autonomy, and it won the most seats in the 1959 federal elections.

Ahmadu Bello was appointed the first Premier of the Northern Region of Nigeria. He used his position to consolidate power, promote Islamic values, and modernize the region while maintaining its traditional emirate system, making him the most powerful politician in the North.

Bello resisted the introduction of universal adult suffrage in the Northern Region, arguing it was incompatible with the region's traditional and Islamic systems. Instead, he supported a limited franchise based on tax payment and male status, which slowed democratic development in the North.

Bello was assassinated in his home in Kaduna during the January 1966 Nigerian coup d'