HC Deb 28 October 1953 vol 518 c372W
79. Mrs. White

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why no invitation to attend the constitutional conference was sent to the United National Party of Eastern Nigeria.

Mr. Lyttelton

To ensure that the conference, while representative of the majority and leading minority parties in Nigeria, was small enough for effective discussion, the Governor of Nigeria, with my agreement, limited invitations to those parties which either commanded a substantial number of votes in their regional Legislatures or had contested the elections in their own name.

The United National Party was not formed until after the elections, nor was it the principal opposition party in the Eastern House of Assembly, where it had only three out of 80 elective seats.

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