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About 7.4 million people registered for the presidential election in poor Niger, which was held on Sunday.
Voters had 30 candidates to choose from in Sunday’s election, but incumbent President Mahamadou Issoufou is not one of them. He was elected in 2011 after the last coup in Niger and voluntarily leaves his post after serving two terms.
“This is a special day for Niger, which for the first time in its history will experience a democratic transfer of power,” the 68-year-old said when casting his vote at the Niamey City Council.
Mohamed Bazoum, former Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, is believed to win. Her campaign has revolved around safety and education, especially for young women.
– It is a great pride that this date, December 27, has been respected, he said after voting.
Bazoum’s main rival, former Prime Minister Hama Amadou, was not allowed to stand when he was convicted in 2017 of human trafficking, something he denied.
The West African country is one of the poorest in the world, according to the World Bank, 42 percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.
Niger has a young population (the average age is 16 years) and a high birth rate (7.6 children per woman). In addition to poverty, Niger has problems with jihadists, especially in the border areas with Nigeria and Mali, where hundreds have died and thousands have been forced to flee.
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