One of Nigeria’s renowned billionaire from Katsina, Alhaji Dahiru Mangal has donated over hundred campaign vehicles in support of a former Minister and presidential candidate in Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum.
In a a Hausa video obtained by PRNigeria, the presentation of the vehicle was made in Maradi, the second largest city and a border town between Nigeria and that country.
The vehicles were all branded with the inscription: “Mohammed Bazoum, 2021” and conspicuous photo of the presidential candidate.
With a net worth estimated at around $765 million, Mangal is a business mogul, entrepreneur, industrialist and seasoned management expert who founded Max Air Limited in 2008.
His donation will boost Bazoum’s chances who is already a protege of President Mahamadou Issoufou and the candidate for the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).
The general elections are scheduled to hold on Sunday, 27 December 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly.
PRNigeria gathered that if no presidential candidate wins majority votes of above 50% at the election, a second round will hold on 21 February 2021.
In a year marked by setbacks for some West African countries, the forthcoming presidential election, will lead to Niger’s first democratic transition of power between two democratically elected presidents since the country’s independence in 1960 from France.
Bazoum is a Nigerien Arab politician who has been President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya) since 2011.
He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2011 to 2015.
He was also Minister of State at the Presidency from 2015 to 2016 and Minister of State for the Interior between 2016 and the summer of 2020, before he resigned to focus on running for the 2020 presidential election.
There are indications that Bazoum may win Niger’s first democratic transfer of power in 2021’s Presidential election owing to the ruling party’s vast financial advantages.
The 60-year-old former interior minister has vowed to continue Issoufou’s policies for combating Islamist violence and tackling poverty.
His policy platform, dubbed Renaissance 3, is named after Issoufou’s Renaissance 1 and Renaissance 2 governing agendas.
Bazoum’s campaign manager is Issoufou’s son and will face 29 other candidates, including Mahamane Ousmame, who was president from 1993-1996, and Seini Oumarou, a former prime minister.
The runner-up in the last election, Hama Amadou, is barred from running because of a criminal conviction.
President Issoufou is stepping aside after two five-year terms, in contrast to other leaders in the region, especially in Guinea and Ivory Coast who used constitutional changes to extend their tenures to three terms.
He thus paves the way for a peaceful transition of power between two elected presidents, a first for the West African country, which has seen four coups since achieving independence from France in 1960.
By PRNigeria
