General Salou Djibo has been nominated by his Peace-Justice-Progress Party as a candidate for the presidential election to be held at the end of 2020 in Niger.
It is under the colors of his party the PJP that the former head of the military junta, which overthrew Mamadou Tanja in 2010, decided to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming presidential election.
The nomination was announced in a sports palace filled with militants.
“we are aware of the challenges facing Niger and that we have no choice but to fight to succeed or perish,” candidate Salou Djibo, 55, said after his nomination. “I pledge before the people of Niger to do politics differently,” he added.
Still to the applause of the activists and during his first public speech before the Nigerien political class, Salou Djibo finally committed himself during future electoral campaigns “never to insult, defame or unjustly smear anyone’s honor”. A real struggle for the soldier Salou Djibo, who has become a civilian today, in a field already occupied by 143 political parties in Niger.
For the time being, Salou Djibo’s PJP has not positioned itself in any political camp, majority or opposition. It relies on its own militants to make their way to the presidential palace.