34 Facts About Hama Amadou

Hama Amadou was a Nigerien politician who was Prime Minister of Niger from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2007.

Hama Amadou was Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Development of Society from 1991 to 2001 and President of the MNSD-Nassara from 2001 to 2009.

From 2011 to 2014, Hama Amadou was President of the National Assembly of Niger.

Hama Amadou was elected to that post as an ally of President Mahamadou Issoufou, but in 2013 he went into opposition.

Hama Amadou fled Niger in August 2014 to escape arrest on charges related to a baby-trafficking investigation.

Hama Amadou was tried in absentia, since he was exiled in France.

At an MNSD congress held in November 1991, Hama Amadou was elected as its Secretary-General, while Tandja Mamadou was elected as the President of the MNSD.

Hama Amadou was elected to the National Assembly in the February 1993 parliamentary election as an MNSD candidate in Niamey.

On 2 January 1998, Hama Amadou was arrested for allegedly leading a plot to assassinate Mainassara.

Hama Amadou denied the charge and said that the arrest was political harassment and a means to distract the people.

Hama Amadou was again elected to the National Assembly in the 1999 parliamentary election as an MNSD candidate from Niamey, but left his seat to become Prime Minister on 3 January 2000.

Hamidou Sekou acted as interim president of the party until Hama Amadou, who was until that point the party's Secretary-General, was elected as President of the MNSD on 21 December 2001.

Hama Amadou refused to rely on UN food aid in 2005, stating that the harvest was enough and that such aid was an insult to Niger's dignity.

Hama Amadou's government lost a no-confidence vote on 31 May 2007, with 62 deputies out of 113 deputies in favor of the motion.

Hama Amadou submitted his government's resignation immediately afterward; he called the vote an "expression of democracy" while noting that the government had survived past no-confidence votes.

Hama Amadou retained his post as President of MNSD-Nassara, but in 2008 faced another challenge.

Hama Amadou publicly claimed that the charges were a "political plot" by portions of his own party.

Hama Amadou faced both a jail term and the loss of his right to hold political office in Niger if convicted.

On 26 June 2008, Hama Amadou was arrested, and later transported to the civil prison at Koutoukate, north of Niamey.

In early August 2008 Zinder and Tillaberi sections of the MNSD proposed that Hama Amadou be removed as party President.

Thousands of Hama Amadou supporters protested his imprisonment at a rally in Niamey on 19 October 2008.

Hama Amadou was transferred from Koutoukale prison to the National Hospital in Niamey in early March 2009, suffering from an unidentified illness, which the government stated was not life-threatening.

Hama Amadou's lawyers announced in April 2009 that the instruction and formation of the High Court of Justice was complete and they expected a trial to commence.

On 23 April 2009, the High Court of Justice ordered that Hama Amadou be conditionally released for health reasons; in accordance with the High Court's decision, he was promptly released from prison after being detained for 10 months.

Hama Amadou complained that conditions in prison were poor and said that they should be improved.

Hama Amadou returned from exile in France in March 2010 and created a new party, the Nigerien Democratic Movement.

Hama Amadou won a seat in the 2011 parliamentary election, and he was elected as President of the National Assembly on 19 April 2011.

In 2013, Hama Amadou joined the opposition to President Issoufou, although he remained in his post as President of the National Assembly.

On 27 August 2014, the National Assembly's leadership, in response to a request from the government, decided to allow the arrest of Hama Amadou, who was not present, in connection with an investigation into an illegal network trafficking infants from Nigeria.

Hama Amadou had denounced the investigation, and his supporters argued that constitutionally he could only be arrested if his parliamentary immunity was removed through a vote of the National Assembly as a whole.

Hama Amadou returned to Niger on 14 November 2015, planning to stand as a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, but he was immediately arrested upon arrival at the airport in Niamey.

Hama Amadou returned to Niger in 2019 and was imprisoned for eight months.

Hama Amadou returned for a final time to Niger following the 2023 Nigerien coup d'etat and refrained from participating in political affairs.

Hama Amadou died from malaria in Niamey, on 23 October 2024, at the age of 74.