By John Ikani
Niger’s military coup leaders have declared Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as the new prime minister in a televised statement on Monday evening.
The announcement which was made through a televised statement by Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane on Monday evening, comes amid international efforts to reinstate constitutional order.
“Mr (Ali Mahaman) Lamine Zeine has been appointed Prime Minister,” said the Colonel Major.
Back when former President Mamadou Tandja was in power, he enlisted Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as cabinet director in 2001 and later as finance minister in 2002.
The move aimed to stabilize a turbulent economic and financial situation inherited from the military regime that took control after the 1999 assassination of General and President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara.
The nation’s history has been marked by various instances of forcible power seizures.
Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine served as Finance Minister until 2010 when Mamadou Tandja was ousted in a coup d’état led by Major Salou Djibo.
The event was followed by a presidential election, won by Mahamadou Issoufou, who was then succeeded by Mohamed Bazoum, the leader deposed on 26 July.
With a background in economics, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine also served as the resident representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, and Gabon.
Born in 1965 in Zinder, Niger’s second most populous city, he joined the Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1991 after completing his studies at the Ecole nationale d’administration (ENA) in Niamey.
He is also a graduate of the Centre d’études financières, économiques et bancaires in Marseille and Paris-I.
Also, the appointment of “Lieutenant-Colonel Habibou Assoumane” as “Commander of the Presidential Guard” was confirmed by Colonel Major Abdramane.
These appointments follow closely after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued an ultimatum to the ruling military, demanding the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum.
ECOWAS has not excluded the possibility of using force if this demand remains unmet.
As the debate surrounding potential military intervention to restore civilian rule divides Niger’s Western and African partners, ECOWAS is scheduled to convene once more in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday.
Since the coup, President Bazoum has been confined to his private residence.
