Paul Ejime
The Niger Constitutional Court has certified Mohamed Bazoum, 61, as the winner of the February 21 presidential election with 55.66 per cent of the vote.
The former foreign minister defeated former President Mahamane Ousmane who received 44.34 per cent in the election and had rejected the results announced by the Electoral Commission resulting in violence that claimed at least two lives in poverty and insecurity stricken West African country.
To underscore the level of instability in the otherwise uranium-rich former French colony, gunmen killed 22 persons in the latest attacks in the Tillabary region, southwest of the country late Sunday, the same day the Constitutional court-approved Bazoum’s victory.
Less than a week ago, at least 58 persons were also killed in similar attacks in the same region.
It is an understatement that Bazoum has inherited a mammoth task from outgoing President Mamadou Issoufou, who was ironically declared the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Africa Leadership Award recently!