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Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, the deposed prime minister of Niger, whose government was overthrown six days ago, gave an exclusive interview to France 24 from Paris, where he arrived on July 30. He gives news of the president-elect, Mohamed Bazoum, kidnapped for four days by his Presidential Guard. Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou also talks about the demonstrations in support of the coup soldiers in front of the French embassy in Niamey, the Nigerien capital.
In the studies of France 24, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, the prime minister of Niger, affirms that the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, kidnapped for four days by his Presidential Guard, “is fine” and “has high morale” after the military coup. “He is a great fighter and a veteran unionist. If he faces this situation with optimism it is because we can believe him. He is very hopeful that things will evolve in the right direction.”
After the announcement of the financial sanctions decided by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against Niger, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou said he was “very satisfied”. For him, it is a “logical reaction” from his neighbors “because it is a free hit, without any element.”
ECOWAS leaders have also claimed not to rule out a “use of force”, so Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou says he is confident. “I am still optimistic,” said the one who was Minister of Mines in the transition Executive of Prime Minister Amadou Cheiffouen from 1991 to 1993 and then Minister of Finance between 2011 and 2012.
“I know the fragility of Niger,” he insists. “I know the economic and financial context of Niger. It is a country that will not be able to resist this type of sanctions. On an economic level, it will be a disaster. On a social level, it will be a disaster. Because Niger is a country that depends a lot on its association international”.
With respect to demonstrations in support of the military coup leaders in front of the French embassy in Niameythe capital, the premier he affirms that it is not “an event led by the people of Niger as a whole (…) I know that the people of Niger have no anti-French sentiments.”
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