He became leader of the Northern People’s Congress, and, in 1952, the first elected minister in Northern Nigeria, and in 1954 Premier. When Nigeria became independent in 1960, his party combined with Azikiwe’s National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) to control the federal Parliament. Bello’s deputy in the NPC, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, became federal Prime Minister, while Bello himself remained to lead the party in the north. In 1966, when the army seized power, Bello was among the political leaders who were assassinated.