Niger voted yesterday amid tight security in an election in which President Mahamadou Issoufou has promised a “knockout” blow to his opponents, who are already crying foul after a tense campaign.
A vast nation endowed with an abundance of uranium, gold, coal and oil but among the poorest on the planet, Niger is electing a head of state, as well as a new parliament, with Issoufou hoping for a second five-year term.
A total of 7.5mn people are eligible to vote at 25,000 polling stations across the country on the edge of the Sahara Desert, where security is a growing concern after attacks by jihadists from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Libya. The results are expected within five days.
Security was tight with forces on patrol across the country, including the capital Niamey, where voting got off to a delayed start in many parts of the city due to the late delivery of ballot papers and other materials.
“There is no such thing as zero risk but we are working to uphold security on election day,” Interior Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou said ahead of the ballot.
Some stations opened up to three hours late, but electoral commission chief Ibrahim Boube insisted that “all voters who come will be able to vote”.
After voting in Niamey, Issoufou said “there will be only one winner, and that will be Niger”, saying he hoped the election would reinforce the country’s democratic structures.
In an interview with AFP on Thursday, the 63-year-old said he was “absolutely” confident of victory and predicted a second-round run-off vote would not be needed.
Issoufou said he had met his pledges on boosting growth and infrastructure, while shoring up security in the face of jihadist attacks.
Known as the “Zaki” or “lion” in Hausa, the majority language in Niger, the former mathematician and mining engineer faces a total of 14 rivals, including two former prime ministers and an ex-president.
Should he fail to win a first-round victory, his rivals, who have accused him of planning to rig the result, have agreed to unite behind whoever scores highest amongst them for the second round.
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 baby-trafficking scandal.
Amadou, a former premier and parliament speaker, heads the Nigerien Democratic Movement whose members were tear-gassed by police earlier this month after gathering in their thousands to support their man.
Among the other candidates are Seyni Oumarou, of the National Movement for the Society of Development, a runner-up to Issoufou in the 2011 presidential race, and 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 Niger, with the remote north threatened by jihadist groups operating out of Mali and Libya while the southeast tries to fend off attacks by Nigeria’s Boko Haram.
In December, the government said it had foiled an attempted military coup.
The threat of unrest hangs over the vote, with some opposition supporters threatening a general strike if Issoufou is declared victorious at the first round.
“If Issoufou wins in the first round, it’s because he has cheated. If this happens we will go on strike and there will be clashes,” an Amadou activist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Tensions edged higher after Niger’s top court approved a controversial plan to allow voters to cast their ballots without identity papers, sparking an opposition outcry on the eve of the vote.
Moussa Tchangari, a leading civil society and opposition figure who heads a rights and development group, said he feared violence.
“Everyone is afraid the outcome could be exceptionally serious,” he said.
Niger, which has a history of military coups, has only had multi-party democracy since 1990.
Three quarters of the country’s 18mn people survive on less than two dollars a day and desertification, driven by climate change, is pushing rural dwellers into towns.
The UN expects 2mn people will need food aid this year in Niger, which has the world’s highest fertility rate.


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