Katsina based billionaire, Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, has donated over a 100 campaign vehicles in support of Mohamed Bazoum, a candidate in Sunday’s presidential election in the Republic of Niger.
According to PRNigeria, the vehicles were presented in Maradi, the second-largest city in the Niger Republic which is also a border town between Nigeria and the country.
The vehicles were all branded with “Mohammed Bazoum, 2021” with a conspicuous photo of the presidential candidate on them.
With an estimated net worth of around $765 Million, Alh. Dahiru Barau Mangal, a close ally of late Nigerian President Umaru Yar’adua, is a business mogul, who founded Max Air Limited in 2008.
Bazoum is the candidate for the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) of outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is finishing his second term.
The general elections are scheduled to be held in Niger on Sunday, 27 December 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly.
If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the vote above 50% at the election on the weekend, a second-round will be held on 21 February 2021.
Mohamed Bazoum is a Nigerien Arab politician who has been President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya) since 2011. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2011 to 2015. He was Minister of State at the Presidency from 2015 to 2016 and was Minister of State for the Interior between 2016 and the summer of 2020 when he resigned to focus on running for the 2020 presidential election.
The 60-year-old former interior minister has vowed to continue Issoufou’s policies for combating Islamist violence and tackling poverty. His policy platform, dubbed Renaissance 3, is named after Issoufou’s Renaissance 1 and Renaissance 2 governing agendas. Bazoum’s campaign manager is Issoufou’s son.
Bazoum will face 29 other candidates, including Mahamane Ousmane, who was president from 1993-1996, and Seini Oumarou, a former prime minister. The runner-up in the last election, Hama Amadou is barred from running because of a criminal conviction.
