Mahamadou Issoufou
| Mahamadou Issoufou | |
|---|---|
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| President of Niger | |
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Assumed office 7 April 2011 |
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| Prime Minister | Brigi Rafini |
| Preceded by | Salou Djibo (Chairperson of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy) |
| Prime Minister of Niger | |
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In office 17 April 1993 – 28 September 1994 |
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| President | Mahamane Ousmane |
| Preceded by | Amadou Cheiffou |
| Succeeded by | Souley Abdoulaye |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1951 (age 65–66) Dandaji, French West Africa (now Niger) |
| Political party | Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism |
| Spouse(s) | Aïssata Issoufou Malika Issoufou Mahamadou |
Mahamadou Issoufou (born 1951) is a Nigerien politician who has been President of Niger since 7 April 2011. Issoufou was Prime Minister of Niger from 1993 to 1994, President of the National Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and he has been a candidate in each presidential election since 1993. He led the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya), a social democratic party, from its foundation in 1990 until his election as President of Niger in 2011. During the Presidency of Mamadou Tandja (1999–2010), Issoufou was the main opposition leader.
Issoufou, an ethnic Hausa, was born in the town of Dandaji in Tahoua Department. An engineer by trade (Ingénieur Civil des Mines de St Etienne), he served as National Director of Mines from 1980 to 1985 before becoming Secretary-General of the Mining Company of Niger (SOMAIR). He is married to Aïssata Issoufou, and to second wife Dr Malika Issoufou Mahamadou.
In February 1993, the country's first multiparty legislative and presidential elections were held. In the parliamentary election, Issoufou's party, the PNDS, won 13 seats in the National Assembly, and Issoufou himself won a seat as a PNDS candidate in Tahoua constituency.
Together with other opposition parties, the PNDS then joined a coalition, the Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC). This coalition held the majority of the newly elected seats in the National Assembly. Later in February 1993, Issoufou ran as the PNDS candidate in the presidential election. He placed third, winning 15.92 percent of the vote. The AFC then supported second-place finisher Mahamane Ousmane for president in the second round of the election, held on March 27. Ousmane won the election, defeating Tandja Mamadou, the candidate of the National Movement of the Development Society (MNSD); with the AFC holding a parliamentary majority, Issoufou became Prime Minister on 17 April 1993.
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