Niger’s constitutional court has approved 15 candidates for next month’s presidential election, the Nigerien Ministry of the Interior announced on Saturday, including imprisoned opposition figure Hama Amadou.
Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, elected in 2011, is seeking another term and will also be up against main opposition leader Seini Oumarou, former Nigerien president Mahamane Ousmane and former Nigerien minister of planning Amadou Boubacar Cisse, among others.
At the start of last week, the interior ministry put forward 16 names of potential candidates to contest the Feb. 21 election.
Of these only Abdoul-Karim Bakasso, the leader of a minor party, was deemed “ineligible” by the court, Nigerien Minister of the Interior Hassoumi Massaoudou told reporters.
His bid was rejected due to “the lack of a medical certificate,” opposition spokesman Ousseini Salatou said.
Amadou, seen as one of Issoufou’s strongest opponents, has been in prison since Nov. 14 last year over allegations he was involved in baby trafficking.
The former prime minister and national assembly president fled the nation in August 2014 to escape charges related to the matter, but was arrested after he returned in November last year.
Amadou has proclaimed his innocence and considers the legal process against him to be “political.”
A legal decision on his latest demand to be freed provisionally is expected today.
Former Nigerien minister of agriculture Abdou Labo, who was also implicated in the affair and is out on bail, is also on the list of approved presidential candidates.
The political climate in the arid Sahel state has been tense since Amadou joined the opposition in 2013.
The election commission late last month announced that the first round of voting would be held on Feb. 21, followed by a run-off on March 20 if necessary.
The opposition has rejected the timeline, saying there had been no consensus on the dates.
The government on Saturday banned a march that had been planned by the opposition for yesterday to rally against what it called the “arbitrary arrests” of some of its supporters and to call for “transparent elections.”
Salatou cited authorities as saying the march posed “a risk to public order.”
Whoever wins the race for the top job faces tackling the pressing issue of Boko Haram attacks from neighboring Nigeria.
Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, has stepped up attacks on areas of Niger, Chad and Cameroon that border Nigeria while also continuing a devastating campaign of suicide and shooting attacks on home soil.
Electoral campaigning is to start on Jan. 30 for both presidential and legislative ballots.
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