Niger’s ‘Lion’ seeks new term as voters go to the polls
NIAMEY: Niger’s voters go to the polls yesterday for a presidential election that has all the makings of a political thriller – including a jailed candidate facing babytrafficking charges, a failed military coup and fears of jihadist attacks.
A vast desert nation blessed with immense riches of uranium, gold, iron and oil but reputedly the poorest on the planet, Niger is electing a head of state, as well as a new parliament, with outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou hoping for a second five-year term.
In an interview with AFP on Thursday, Issoufou said he was ‘absolutely’ confident of victory and predicted a runoff secondround vote would not even be needed, pointing to his campaign slogan ‘Promises met’.
He says he has met his pledges on growth and infrastructure, while shoring up security in the face of attacks by jihadists from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Libya.
Known as the ‘Zaki’ or ‘lion’ in Hausa, the majority language in Niger, Issoufou, a 63-yearold mathematician and mining engineer turned politician, faces a total of 14 rivals including a particularly tough challenge from two former prime ministers and an ex-president.
Should he fail to snatch a firstround victory, his main rivals have struck a deal to back whoever scores highest amongst them in the hope of ditching the president.
Security was expected to be tight with security forces “patrolling with 1,000 vehicles nationwide, 24 hours a day ”, said Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou.
Heading the opposition pack is 66-year-old Hama Amadou, who is campaigning from behind bars after being arrested in November on his return from exile in France over his alleged role in a babytrafficking scandal.
Amadou, a former premier and parliament speaker, heads the Nigerien Democratic Movement (NDM) whose members were teargassed by police earlier this month after gathering in their thousands to support the prisoner-candidate, known as “the Phoenix” for his ability to rise from the ashes.
Fellow candidate Seini Oumarou, of the National Movement for the Society of Development (NMSD), is nicknamed “the wise man” and was runner-up to Issoufou in the last 2011 presidential race.
He also served as premier to charismatic president Mamadou Tandja, who was overthrown by the army in 2010 after 10 years at the helm.
Also among the favourites is Niger’s first-ever democratically elected president, Mahamane Ousmane, 66, who is making his fourth bid to step back into the job since his 1993 election.
Defence remains a top budget priority in the impoverished nation, amid the threat of raids by jihadist groups in the remote north and attacks by Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists on the southeast border.