Hama Amadou (born 1949) is a

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesPrime Minister of Niger from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2007. He was also Secretary-General of the

National Movement for the Development of Society The National Movement for the Development of Society (french: Mouvement National pour la Société du Développement, MNSD-Nassara) is a political party in Niger. Founded under the military government of the 1974–1990 period, it was the ruling ...

(MNSD-Nassara) from 1991 to 2001 and President of the MNSD-Nassara from 2001 to 2009. Amadou is from the Kurtey, a

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

sub-group, and was raised in the Tillaberi Region, in the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...

valley, north of

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital dis ...

. As a result of corruption allegations against his government, he was removed from office as Prime Minister through a 2007 no-confidence vote in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

. In 2008 he became the target of a corruption investigation which saw him arrested to face criminal charges at the

Nigerien High Court of Justice The current judiciary of Niger was established with the creation of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The constitution of December 1992 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and, again, by referendum, revised to the current version on 18 J ...

and removed from his post as MNSD President. From 2011 to 2014, Amadou was President of the

National Assembly of Niger The unicameral National Assembly (''Assemblée nationale'') is Niger's legislative body. The National Assembly may propose laws and is required to approve all legislation. History The National Assembly was established through reforms of the Col ...

. He was elected to that post as an ally of President

Mahamadou Issoufou Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1 January 1952) is a Nigerien politician who served as the President of Niger from 7 April 2011 to 2 April 2021. Issoufou was the prime minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, president of the National Assembly from 1995 t ...

, but in 2013 he went into opposition. He fled Niger in August 2014 to escape arrest on charges related to a baby-trafficking investigation. Upon those charges, Amadou was sentenced to one year in prison, in March 2017, by the Niamey Court of Appeals. Amadou was tried in absentia, since he was exiled in France.

Under Kountché and Saibou

During the regime of

Seyni Kountché Seyni Kountché (1 July 1931 – 10 November 1987) was a Nigerien military officer who led a 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first president, Hamani Diori. He ruled the country as military head of state from 17 April ...

, Amadou was Director-General of the

Office of Radio Broadcasting and Television of Niger The Office of Radio and Television of Niger (fr: ''Office de radiodiffusion et Télévision du Niger''), or ORTN, is the state broadcaster of the West African nation of Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = Nationa ...

(ORTN) from 1983 to 1985 and became Director of the Cabinet in 1985. Following Kountché's death,"Politique: Hama Amadou est-il présidentiable?"
Tamtaminfo.com, 27 February 2007 Amadou was named Minister of Information under his successor,

Ali Saibou Ali Saibou (17 June 1940 – 31 October 2011) was the third President of Niger from 1987 to 1993 succeeding the deceased Seyni Kountché. A member of the Djerma people, he was born in Dingajibanda, a village in the Ouallam arrondissement. Al ...

, on 15 July 1988, serving until 20 December 1989.

Third Republic

At an MNSD congress held in November 1991, Amadou was elected as its Secretary-General, while Tandja Mamadou was elected as the President of the MNSD. Amadou was elected to the National Assembly in the February 1993 parliamentary election as an MNSD candidate in Niamey. In another election held in January 1995, an opposition alliance, primarily composed of the MNSD and the

Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism The Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (french: Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme, PNDS-Tarayya) is a political party in Niger. It is a broadly left-leaning party, part of the Socialist International, and since 2011 it ...

(PNDS), won a majority of seats, resulting in

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increas ...

between the government, led by Amadou, and President

Mahamane Ousmane Mahamane Ousmane (born 20 January 1950), press release no. 179, is a Nigerien politician. He was the first democratically elected and fourth President of Niger, serving from 16 April 1993, U.S. Department of State. until he was deposed in a mili ...

. Initially, the parliamentary majority put forward Amadou as its sole candidate for the position of prime minister, rather than submit three candidates from which Ousmane would choose the prime minister. Ousmane rejected this and appointed

Amadou Cissé Amadou Boubacar Cissé (born 1948
, ''Afrique Express'', December 21, 1996 .) is a parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

managers in July despite Ousmane's objections, and Amadou attempted to assume the presidential role with regard to the Council of Ministers.Jibrin Ibrahim and Abdoulayi Niandou Souley
"The rise to power of an opposition party: the MNSD in Niger Republic"
''Politeia'', volume 15, number 3, Unisa Press, 1996.

Under Maïnassara

On 27 January 1996, a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

led by

Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara General Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (May 9, 1949 – April 9, 1999) was a military officer and diplomat in Niger who ruled the country from his seizure of power in 1996 until his assassination during the military coup of April 1999. Baré Maïn ...

ousted both Amadou and Ousmane, and they were both placed under house arrest for several months."Niger: A major step backwards"
, ''

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

'', 16 October 1996. On 2 January 1998, Amadou was arrested for allegedly leading a plot to assassinate Maïnassara."Niger: Former premier rejects charges of militia creation"
'' IRIN West Africa Update 121'', 12 January 1998.

André Salifou André Salifou (born 1942
.) is a

"Evolution du processus démocratique nigérien de 1991 à 1999"
, democratie.francophonie.org . He was released on bail on 8 January,"Former Prime Minister of Niger charged after release from detention"
''

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the ...

'', 9 January 1998. but was charged with forming an illegal militia. Amadou denied the charge and said that the arrest was political harassment and a means to distract the people.

Fourth Republic

Maïnassara was assassinated in an April 1999 coup, and new elections were held in late 1999. The MNSD's presidential candidate, Tandja Mamadou, won the presidential election. In the parliamentary election, held in November, the MNSD again won the largest number of seats, and through an alliance with Ousmane's party, the

Democratic and Social Convention The Democratic and Social Convention - Rahama (french: Convention démocratique et sociale-Rahama, CDS-Rahama) is a political party in Niger. History It was founded in January 1991. In the February 1993 parliamentary elections the party won 22 ...

(CDS-Rahama), it held a majority in the new parliament. Amadou was again elected to the National Assembly in the 1999 parliamentary election as an MNSD candidate from Niamey, but left his seat to become Prime Minister on 3 January 2000. On this occasion he told the deputies of the National Assembly that Niger faced a "disastrous" financial situation and that "the coffers are absolutely empty","No pay for Niger MPs"

, 3 January 2000. asking them to temporarily go without their salaries as deputies. As President of Niger, Tandja had to give up his position as President of the MNSD.

Hamidou Sékou Hamidou is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Jules Hamidou (born 1987), Chadian footballer * Souleymanou Hamidou (born 1973), Cameroonian footballer Given name: *Raïs Hamidou (1773–1815), Algerian ...

acted as interim president of the party"Les partis politiques nigériens, leurs leaders respectifs et les pratiques politiques inavouables"
, ''La Roue de l'Histoire'', 24 February – 1 March 2004 . until Amadou, who was until that point the party's Secretary-General, was elected as President of the MNSD on 21 December 2001. While Amadou was campaigning for the July 2004 municipal elections, the helicopter in which he was travelling reportedly crashed on 14 July 2004 at Magaria in eastern Niger. Amadou survived the crash. He refused to rely on UN food aid in 2005, stating that the

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most l ...

was enough and that such aid was an insult to Niger's dignity.

2007 no-confidence vote

Amadou's government lost a

no-confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...

on 31 May 2007, with 62 deputies out of 113 deputies in favor of the motion."Niger's government dissolved"

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

, 31 May 2007."Niger vote dissolves government"

, 31 May 2007. The vote was prompted by allegations of corruption regarding embezzled funds that had been intended for education."Niger: Censure motion dismisses ruling govt."
, African Press Agency, 31 May 2007. Although supported by the MNSD deputies, two other groups, including the CDS, joined the opposition

(PNDS) to form a majority against the government. Amadou submitted his government's resignation immediately afterward; he called the vote an "expression of democracy" while also noting that the government had survived past no-confidence votes. As a result of the no-confidence vote, President Tandja Mamadou had the choice of naming a new prime minister or calling new elections. He named

Seyni Oumarou Seyni Oumarou (born 9 August 1951

, one of three candidates selected by parliament, as prime minister on 3 June; Oumarou had previously been part of Amadou's government as Minister of State for Equipment.

2008 corruption charges

Amadou retained his post as President of MNSD-Nassara, but in 2008 faced another challenge. The Gendarmerie Nationale of Niger opened another investigation into the former prime minister, this time on charges he had embezzled 100 million CFA (Euros152,500) of foreign aid for independent press and communications development during the 2000 to 2006 period. Subsequent High Court investigations reduced the alleged amount by two-thirds. Mamadou Tandja called a special session of the National Assembly on 14 June 2008 to examine the case, as all sitting members of parliament hold immunity from prosecution. While the men had previously been close political allies, with Amadou seen as Tandja's chosen successor, their relationship had deteriorated during Amadou's years in office, and it was rumoured that the two had become rivals. Amadou publicly claimed that the charges were a "political plot" by portions of his own party. Amadou faced both a jail term and the loss of his right to hold political office in Niger if convicted. A 14-member special panel examined the charges, and passed censure motions to the National Assembly; after over 24 hours of debate, the National Assembly voted 72 to 28 to strip Amadou of his immunity and passed the case on to the

. On 26 June 2008, Amadou was arrested, and later transported to the civil prison at Koutoukaté, north of

. His first appearance before the ''commission d'instruction'' of the High Court was pushed back from 29 July to 6 August 2008, at which time his request for release on bail was rejected by Bouba Mahamane, the ''procureur général'' of the High Court. In early August 2008 Zinder and Tillaberi sections of the MNSD proposed that Amadou be removed as party President. Amadou, his legal team, and his remaining supporters with the MNSD-Nassara charged the President and the government with inventing these charges to prevent Amadou from standing as a presidential candidate in the December 2009 election. They pointed to the removal of two of his political allies, Amadou Sala and Omar Hamidou Tchiana, from high political posts following Amadou's arrest. Thousands of Amadou supporters protested his imprisonment at a rally in Niamey on 19 October 2008. Another pro-Amadou rally was planned for 26 October, but it was banned by the authorities."Niger bans demo for detained ex-PM"
Sapa-AFP, 23 October 2008.

Loss of MNSD leadership

Due to his imprisonment, Amadou designated

Habi Mahamadou Salissou Habi Mahamadou Salissou is a Nigerien politician and a former Secretary-General of the centre-right National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD). He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Secondary and Higher Education from 200 ...

, the MNSD Secretary-General, as the party's Interim President. This decision was not accepted by Amadou's opponents in the party, who voted to instead install

as Interim President on 7 September 2008. Despite ongoing support for Amadou from sections of the MNSD, especially from his political base in Tillabery, Amadou was stripped of the formal leadership of the ruling party in early 2009. A special congress of the MNSD-Nassara held in Zinder on 21 February 2009 elected Prime Minister Oumarou to succeed Amadou as MNSD President. Minister of the Interior

Albadé Abouba Albadé Abouba is a Nigerien politician who has been the Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD-Nassara) since 2009. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and a ...

was voted Secretary-General of the party, replacing Salissou. This result came after months of wrangling between pro-Tandja and pro-Amadou elements in the party that threatened to split the MNSD and saw pro-Amadou groups join opposition protests against a floated plan to extend Tandja's term beyond 2009.

Illness

Amadou was transferred from Koutoukalé prison to the National Hospital in

in early March 2009, suffering from an unidentified illness, which the government stated was not life-threatening. Three weeks later, at the beginning of April, he was transferred back to prison, despite protests and a march by his supporters in Niamey, and legal action by his lawyers.

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...

reported that government medical experts brought to clear him for release back to prison had recommended he be transferred instead to a hospital in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but were overruled. According to his wife, his poor health condition was related to

low blood pressure Hypotension is low blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood. Blood pressure is indicated by two numbers, the systolic blood pressure (the top number) and the di ...

and

hypoglycaemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose bel ...

."Niger court orders conditional release of ex-PM"
Agence France-Presse, 23 April 2009.

High Court trial and return to politics

Amadou's lawyers announced in April 2009 that the instruction and formation of the High Court of Justice was complete and they expected a trial to commence. The High Court is a provisional institution for the trial of political figures, overseen by the

Supreme Court of Niger The current judiciary of Niger was established with the creation of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The constitution of December 1992 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and, again, by referendum, revised to the current version on 18 J ...

but formed from seven sitting deputies of the

. On 23 April 2009, the High Court of Justice ordered that Amadou be conditionally released for health reasons; in accordance with the High Court's decision, he was promptly released from prison after being detained for 10 months. Amadou complained that conditions in prison were poor and said that they should be improved. Following his release, Amadou left Niger for medical treatment. Pointing to an inquiry that alleged Amadou held 15,000 shares in

Ecobank Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 36 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, se ...

, Nigerien authorities issued an international warrant for his arrest on 30 July 2009. Amadou spoke on

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of France. With 37.2 million listeners in 2014, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world, along with ...

on 31 July, deriding the corruption allegations as absurd: "Do you think someone is capable of stealing 16 billion CFA francs from the budget of Niger? If I had stolen 16 billion then why haven't the ministers who helped me steal it been named in the file?" He also said that Tandja simply wanted him imprisoned "for some reason or another". Tandja was ousted in a February 2010 military coup, and a new junta initiated a transition to elections. Amadou returned from exile in France in March 2010 and created a new party, the Nigerien Democratic Movement (MDN). On 11 July 2010, he publicly announced his desire to stand as the MDN's candidate for the January 2011 presidential election and vowed to "fight as hard as I can to win power". Placing third in the presidential election, Amadou then threw his support behind Mahamadou Issoufou, who had placed first. Issoufou prevailed in the second round. Amadou also won a seat in the 2011 parliamentary election, and he was elected as President of the National Assembly on 19 April 2011. The vote was nearly unanimous: there were 103 votes in favor and one vote against. In 2013, Amadou joined the opposition to President Issoufou, although he remained in his post as President of the National Assembly. On 27 August 2014, the National Assembly's leadership, in response to a request from the government, decided to allow the arrest of Amadou, who was not present, in connection with an investigation into an illegal network trafficking infants from Nigeria. One of his wives had already been arrested."Niger allows parliament chief's arrest in baby-trafficking case"
Reuters, 27 August 2014. Within hours of the decision, Amadou fled to

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana t ...

. He had denounced the investigation, and his supporters argued that constitutionally he could only be arrested if his

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

was removed through a vote of the National Assembly as a whole. On 24 November 2014, the National Assembly elected

Amadou Salifou Amadou Salifou is a Nigerien politician who was President of the National Assembly of Niger from 2014 to 2016. Life and career Salifou is a Zarma from the Niamey suburb of Goudel. He was elected to the National Assembly three times. Salifou als ...

to replace Hama Amadou as President of the National Assembly.

2016 presidential election

Amadou returned to Niger on 14 November 2015, planning to stand as a candidate in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

, but he was immediately arrested upon arrival at the airport in Niamey. Although he was still in jail, he was cleared to stand as a presidential candidate by the Constitutional Court in January 2016. An appeals court refused Amadou's request to be released on 11 January. Speaking through his lawyer, Amadou said afterward that he was a political prisoner and would not pursue any further appeal. Provisional results released on 26 February 2016 showed President Issoufou with about 48% of the vote, falling just short of a first round majority. Hama Amadou, still in jail, placed second with 17.8% of the vote. With no candidate winning an outright majority, a second round was planned to be held on 20 March 2016. Although Amadou received a much smaller percentage of the first round vote, most of the other major opposition candidates were expected to support him in the second round. Speaking on behalf of COPA 2016, the opposition coalition supporting Amadou, Seyni Oumarou (who placed third and backed Amadou for the second round), announced on 8 March that the coalition was boycotting the vote and withdrawing its representatives from the electoral commission. Nevertheless, Amadou's lawyer said on 11 March that he would still be a candidate. Subsequent events were dominated by Amadou's health problems. After a medical crisis in which he was said to have briefly lost consciousness, he was moved from the prison in

Filingue Filingue is a town in southwestern Niger and is the capital city of Filingue Department. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Dallol Bosso valley, some 180 km northeast of Niger's capital city Niamey. As pools of stagnant water remain in th ...

; he was then taken to Paris for treatment on 16 March. COPA again called for a boycott on 18 March. The second round was held on 20 March 2016 amidst an opposition boycott. Given the boycott, results announced on 22 March showed an unsurprisingly large victory for President Issoufou, who was credited with 92.5% of the vote. COPA denounced the election as fraudulent and rejected the results, saying that Niger would "have no legitimate president" after Issoufou's first term ended. The Niamey Court of Appeal issued an order for the "provisional release" of Amadou on 29 March 2016, although by that point he had already been out of the country for nearly two weeks. A year later, on 13 March 2017, Hama Amadou was sentenced to one year in prison for his alleged involvement in the scheme to sell infants from Nigeria. Amadou remained in France and was not present."Niger sentences exiled politician in baby-trafficking case"
Reuters, 14 March 2017.

References

External links

"Free Hama Amadou" campaign site
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Amadou, Hama 1949 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Niger) National Movement for the Development of Society politicians People from Tillabéri Region Prime Ministers of Niger Fula people Heads of government who were later imprisoned