By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
Democratically elected President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum, is still being held by the country’s junta, which removed him from office and seized power in 2023. Nearly three years in military detention, the tenure of office of President Bazoum, elected in 2021 to serve a term of five years, will elapse on 2nd April, 2026. Yet, he is still being held, almost forgotten by the rest of Africa.
On July 26, 2023, a group of military officers led by General Abdourahamane Tiani removed President Bazoum from office and suspended the country’s constitution, bringing the Niger Republic’s democracy to a halt. However, the deposed President Bazoum has since then refused to resign, insisting that he is still the legitimate Head of Government and Head of State of the country.
A recent call by the EU for the release of President Bazoum was met with protest around Africa’s Coup Belt, with groups resisting the call.
However, tomorrow, April 2nd, marks the official end of the tenure of office of the detained president, and with that, his refusal to formally resign as his country’s president might no longer hold any meaning, given that his tenure of office has expired. Although it is doubtful that his tenure of office ever counted in his detention, because the junta in Niger is not governing the West African country with the same constitution that defined Bazoum’s tenure of office.
