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Tag: Mahamadou Issoufou

  • We were apprehensive about Nigeria’s elections – Niger President

    We were apprehensive about Nigeria’s elections – Niger President

    President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufou, said on Thursday that the people of his country were apprehensive during the last general elections in Nigeria because of the history of electoral violence  on the African continent.

    Speaking with journalists after a closed door meeting with President – elect, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Defence House, Abuja, Issoufou said they were grateful to God that the announcement of the results did not result in any conflict.

    The Nigerien leader said his visit to Abuja was to congratulate the president-elect on his victory in the presidential election.

    He said, “I also came to congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan on the elections because he has played a great role by accepting the presidential election results.

    “If you can remember, whenever there is an election in Africa, we always have disputes and crises in some instances after results were declared. But we thank God that the Nigerian elections were conducted peacefully and peace was maintained afterwards.

    “We became apprehensive in Niger before the announcement of the results because of the history of post election crisis in Africa. So we came to felicitate with the people of Nigeria for having a peaceful election. We conveyed the goodwill of the people of Niger and its leadership to you.

    “So we congratulate Buhari on his victory and wish him God’s guidance. We only pray for peace and prosperity for all our countries. We also hope that his election will bring development and good fortunes to Nigeria and the whole of Africa. You know Nigeria is the engine room of not only West Africa but the whole African continent.”

    In his remarks, Buhari said “the Nigerian President purposely came to congratulate me on my victory and President Jonathan for the maturity and statesmanship that he exhibited by accepting that he has lost the election.

    “His action actually doused tensions and averted crisis in Nigeria. Not only Africa, the world has commended the President for that. This is because if he had disputed the elections, there would have been a crisis in the country. That is what people don’t want, not only Nigerians but other countries.

    “So he came to commend President Jonathan for his courage and statesmanship. He also came to greet us on our victory. As he rightly puts it, if Nigeria sneezes, the rest of Africa catches cold, because of its importance, population and resources.”

  • 2015 polls: Niger President hails Jonathan

    2015 polls: Niger President hails Jonathan

    President of the Republic of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, visited President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa on Thursday and commended him for his exemplary conduct during and after the recent presidential election in Nigeria.

    ‎Before his visit, Presidents of Chad, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Benin Republic are among the leaders that have paid farewell visits to Jonathan since the end of the election in March.

    Just like others, Issoufou commended Jonathan for peacefully conceding victory to the President-elect, Gen.  Muhammadu Buhari.

    Addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting with Jonathan, the Nigerien leader, who spoke in ‎French,described Jonathan’s gesture as evidence of his statesmanship, maturity and humility and the icing on the cake of his numerous contributions to the security, economy and infrastructural development of West Africa‎.

    According to him, Jonathan’s conduct in the aftermath of the election was a good model of democracy for West African leaders and a good legacy ‎worthy of emulation by other African leaders.

    Having worked with Jonathan at bilateral and multilateral levels in the past four years and seen how he conducted himself in office, Issoufou said he was not surprised that Jonathan made immense contributions before leaving office.

    According to him, other heads of state were indeed pleased with ‎Jonathan for this good leadership quality.

  • Malian crisis: Niger okays deployment of U.S drones

    Niger has given permission for United States surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara, a senior government source said.

    The U.S. ambassador to Niger, Bisa Williams, made the request at a meeting on Monday with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who immediately accepted it, the source told Reuters.

    “Niger has given the green light to accepting American surveillance drones on its soil to improve the collection of intelligence on Islamist movements,” said the source, who asked not to be identified.

    The drones could be stationed in Niger’s northern desert region of Agadez, which borders Mali, Algeria and Libya, the source added.

    A spokesperson for the United States’ African Command (AFRICOM) declined to comment.

    The U.S already has drones and surveillance aircraft stationed at several points around Africa. Its only permanent military base is in the small country of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, more than 3,000 miles from Mali.

    After her talks with Issoufou, Williams told reporters they had discussed economic and military cooperation and development issues.

    She also expressed Washington’s appreciation for the French-led military mission to expel an alliance of al Qaeda-linked fighters from northern Mali.