André Salifou

André Salifou (born 1942) is a Nigerien politician, diplomat, and professor. He was President of the High Council of the Republic during the 1991–93 transitional period, briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1996, and was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1999.

Salifou was born in Zinder. From 1972 to 1979, he worked for the Agency of Cultural and Technical Cooperation (Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique), UNESCO, and the Common African and Mauritian Organization. He then became a Professor of History at the University of Niamey until 1991. For his doctorate d'état he wrote the thesis Colonisation et sociétés indigènes au Niger de la fin du XIXe siècle à la début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale (Colonization and indigenous societies of Niger from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the Second World War).

At the end of the 1980s the military regime of Brigadier General Ali Saibou came under increasing domestic pressure and civil resistance. At the end of 1990, the regime acquiesced to demands for a return to civilian rule and a national conference was convened in July 1991 to prepare the way for the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of free and fair elections. Professor Salifou was chosen as a neutral figure to be President of the Presidium of the National Conference, which was held from July 29, 1991 to November 3, 1991 and established a transitional government leading to democratic elections. At the Conference, he was elected as President of the High Council of the Republic, which was created to function in a legislative role during the transitional period, which lasted from November 1991 to April 1993. In late February 1992 he was briefly kidnapped, along with the Interior Minister, Mohamed Moussa, by soldiers demanding back pay; he and Moussa were freed after the soldiers were promised that they would receive the pay.

In the February 1993 parliamentary election, Salifou was a candidate for his party, the Union of Democratic and Progressive Patriots (UPDP-Chamoua), in Zinder constituency, and was elected to the National Assembly. Like Prime Minister Ahmadou Cheiffou, he was prohibited by the National Conference from standing as a candidate in the presidential election held later in the same month due to his role as President of the High Council of the Republic. Following the election, the UPDP, which was led by Salifou, formed part of the opposition along with the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD). Salifou participated in an opposition protest on April 16, 1994 and was arrested along with 90 others, including MNSD leader Tandja Mamadou.

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