1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état was dropped, but Maga was still guilty of corruption. Following a March 1964 retrial, Maga was let out of prison and went into exile in Paris. 1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état The 1963 Dahomey coup d'état was staged on October 28, 1963, by Christophe Soglo, who took control of the Republic of Dahomey to prevent a civil war. He overthrew Hubert Maga, whose presidency faced extreme economic stagnation and a host of other problems. The West African colony of French Dahomey, the present-day nation of Benin, was largely ignored by the French during its colonial era in French West Africa. Dahomey
Republican Party of Dahomey which was to be the Dahomeyan branch of the African Regroupment Party. However, internal disagreements led to the parties splitting back into their original forms in 1959. The PRD also won the 1959 elections, despite receiving fewer votes than the Dahomeyan Democratic Union (UDD). Due to accusations of fraud, it later agreed to give nine seats to the UDD, but remained the largest party in the Assembly. In February 1960 it was transformed into the Dahomey Nationalist Party ("Parti des Nationalistes du Dahomey", PND) after admitting federalists led by Émile Derlin Zinsou. In November 1960 the PND agreed to merge