4th April, 2021
Niger’s newly elected President Mohamed Bazoum has appointed former minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou as prime minister to lead his government.
The appointment, made via a decree was read on national television late on Saturday.
Mahamadou until recently was the chief of staff of Bazoum’s predecessor President Mahamadou Issoufou.
Mahamadou, 69, first held a ministerial position 1991 as mines and energy minister.
He was Niger’s finance minister between 2011 and 2012, and was appointed chief of staff in 2015.
Bazoum was sworn in on Friday in Niamey for a five year term.
His ascension was the country’s first democratic transition of power since independence in 1960.
He emerged after he won a runoff presidential election in February as candidate of Niger’s ruling Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-TARAYYA).
He was elected with 55.66 percent of the votes.
In his inauguration speech, 61 year-old Bazoum said that he would be “the elected president for all Nigeriens.”
“My duty is to treat Nigeriens equally. I am committed to consolidating the unity of our country and the fraternity that should dominate our relations between us,” he stressed.
He also promised to continue the program of his predecessor, and tackle in his tenure the challenges the country faces in the fields of security, climate, economy, education and health.