On 1 October 1995, Abacha announced a three-year program for return to civilian rule. Parties were allowed to…

Analyze the question: The question asks which party was NOT among those registered in the Abacha-era transition programme. Strictly, the five parties registered in 1996 under Abacha were: UNCP, DPN, CNC, GDM and NCPN. The question seems to be about the transition to civilian rule leading to 1999, which was completed under Abdulsalami Abubakar.

Concept: After Abacha died in June 1998, General Abdulsalami Abubakar's government (with the Provisional Ruling Council, PRC, still in place) dissolved Abacha's five parties and allowed new ones to register. The parties registered by INEC for the 1999 transition were:

• Alliance for Democracy (AD)
• All People's Party (APP)
• People's Democratic Party (PDP)

(Others were provisionally registered in 1998 but did not meet the threshold for final registration.)

Solution:

• A. Alliance for Democracy: registered (1998/99). ✔
• B. Action Congress: formed much later, in the mid-2000s (Action Congress of Nigeria emerged in 2006-2007). It did not exist in 1998, so it could not have been registered by the PRC. ✘
• C. All People's Party: registered (1998/99). ✔
• D. People's Democratic Party: registered (1998/99). ✔

Answer: B. Action Congress

Tip: For Nigerian history and government questions, use the timeline. The 1998-99 parties were the AD, APP and PDP. Any party name that appears later (such as AC, ACN, APC, or ANPP) is a giveaway for "not registered" in questions about that era.