In his book 888 Days in Biafra, Samuel Enadeghe Umweni recollects how Lawyer Akpata twice made the dangerous journey across the front lines to visit him while he was held prisoner by the breakaway Biafran troops during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).
[4] To avoid splits along ethnic lines, Akpata stipulated that only parties with broad-based national support would be allowed to contest the elections.
[1] This caused the formation of coalitions of smaller associations, such as the Group of 34 which formed the new People's Democratic Party (PDP).
[12] Akpata accepted foreign election monitors from the US-based Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute, and supported their request to train thousands of local observers.
Reports on later elections were more critical, describing irregularities including inflated vote returns, ballot box stuffing, altered results, and disenfranchisement of voters.
After the elections, former US President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to Akapata that said "There was a wide disparity between the number of voters observed at the polling stations and the final results that have been reported from several states.