The Action Group (AG) was a Nigerian nationalist[1] political party established in Ibadan on 21 March 1951, by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
It benefited immensely from the relationships developed in the Egbe Omo Oduduwa[3] formed in Awolowo's days in London as a student.
In 1945, Awolowo formed the group Egbe Omo Oduduwa, now to forge Yoruba unity bringing together traditional and educated elites.
Meanwhile, a pro-government party, the NNDP, was established in power in the Western Region by Chief Samuel Akintola, who left the AG to forge an alliance with the NPC at the center.
[citation needed] The Action Group was a liberal and, later, left-leaning political party which was supported largely by the peoples of the then Western Region of Nigeria.
Although pro-socialist, the party was regarded in some establishment circles as supporting Communism, and was viewed with suspicion by the West, even though the leadership denied this claim.
Members of Action Group also defended the Welfare State due to the belief that it would mitigate poverty, ignorance, and disease.
The situation at the end of the critical election in the West was similar to the one that brought the NPC to power at the national level on the eve of Nigerian independence.