Voters in Niger Republic will decide the fate of candidates in the presidential and legislative elections holding today Sunday, December 27.
A total of 30 candidates are in the presidential race but very few are expected to make an impact.
The incumbent President Mahamadou Issoufou is not a candidate in the election as he has already served two terms, the maximum allowed by the country’s constitution.
Below are some of the leading contenders:
1. Mohamed Bazoum
Being the candidate of the ruling party, Bazoum is seen as favourite in the race. The 60-year-old former interior minister is Issoufou’s handpicked successor.
He has vowed to continue the incumbent’s policies to combat Islamist violence and end poverty. He has even called his policy platform Renaissance 3, is named after Issoufou’s Renaissance 1 and Renaissance 2 governing agendas,
“We are going to consolidate the gains of the past 10 years,” he has previously said.
“We are going to continue in the direction set by President Mahamadou Issoufou.”
2. Seini Oumarou
Among the prominent candidates is Seini Oumarou, a high representative of the head of state since 2016, a post he recently left. Seini Oumarou was nominated by his party, the National Movement for Social Development (MNSD).
At 70 years of age, he is campaigning for the third time – after 2011 and 2016. His party led Niger from 1999 to 2010.
Mr. Oumarou served as prime minister from 2007 to 2009.
3. Boubacar Cissé
Former Minister of State for Planning and Development, Amadou Boubacar Cissé is the candidate of the Union for Democracy and Republic (Udr Tabbat).
4. Mahamane Ousmane
He was elected President of the Republic of Niger in the first democratic election on March 27, 1993.
After several months of social tensions, he was overthrown in a coup d’état led by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Mainassara in January 1996. He is the candidate of the Renewed Democratic and Republican Party (Renouveau Démocratique et Républicain).
5. Ibrahim Yacouba
Ibrahim Yacouba, who ran against current President Mahamadou Issoufou in the 2016 presidential election, came 5th with 4.43% of the vote in the first round. Having called to vote for President Issoufou in the second round.
He became Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was dismissed in April 2018 by the head of state for “showing disloyalty”. Ibrahim Yacouba is the candidate of the Patriotic Movement of Niger (MPN).
6. Lt General Salou Djibo
After President Mamadou Tandja’s attempts to remain in power after the end of his term, Djibo led the military coup of 18 February 2010 that ousted Tandja.
The 55-year-old military chief thereafter became the head of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy.
Hama Amadou “ineligible”
In November, the Constitutional Court declared the main opposition candidate Hama Amadou “ineligible” to run in Sunday’s election.
Although the court didn’t give a specific reason, it is assumed Amadou’s candidacy was rejected because of a one-year jail sentence.
The former prime minister and former president of the National Assembly was sentenced in 2017 to one year in prison in a case of “infant trafficking”.
Although he had been granted a presidential pardon last March while serving his sentence, he was still, according to the Constitutional Court, affected by Article 8 of the Electoral Code which stipulates that anyone sentenced to at least one year in prison cannot be allowed to run for president.
To emerge winner, a presidential candidate is required to receive a majority of the vote above 50% at the election, or else a second-round will be held on 21 February 2021.
