Parliamentary elections were held in Nigeria on 7 July 1979 for the first time since 1964 to elect a Senate and House of Representatives on 14 July. The result was a victory for the National Party of Nigeria, which won 36 of the 95 Senate seats and 168 of the 449 House seats.[1] It formed a coalition with the Nigerian People's Party in order to gain a majority.[2] Voter turnout was just 30.7% in the House election.[3]
Electoral system
Members of both houses were elected using the single-member plurality electoral system. Each State was divided into five districts, each of which elected a Senator. Each State was also allocated a number of seats in the House of Representatives based on its proportion of the population.[4]
Results
Senate
| Party | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|
| National Party of Nigeria | 4,032,329 | 32.75 | 36 |
| Unity Party of Nigeria | 2,835,362 | 23.03 | 28 |
| Nigerian People's Party | 2,145,859 | 17.43 | 16 |
| Great Nigeria People's Party | 1,847,019 | 15.00 | 8 |
| People's Redemption Party | 1,453,538 | 11.80 | 7 |
| Total | 12,314,107 | 100.00 | 95 |
|
| Total votes | 12,532,195 | – | |
|---|
| Registered voters/turnout | 48,633,782 | 25.77 | |
|---|
| Source: Nohlen et al. |
Results by state
House of Representatives
| Party | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|
| National Party of Nigeria | 5,325,680 | 35.6 | 168 |
| Unity Party of Nigeria | 3,691,553 | 24.6 | 111 |
| Nigerian People's Party | 2,391,279 | 16.0 | 78 |
| People's Redemption Party | | 49 |
| Great Nigeria People's Party | | 43 |
| Total | | 449 |
|
| Total votes | 14,941,555 | – | |
|---|
| Registered voters/turnout | 48,633,782 | 30.72 | |
|---|
| Source: Nohlen et al. |
By state
References