Niger's election commission urges opposition to respect results

Niger’s independent electoral commission has called on the opposition parties to respect the provisional results of Sunday’s polls.

Opposition parties have rejected the initial results that put incumbent President Mahamadou Issoufou in the lead terming them fraudulent.

The president who is running for a second term has so far garnered 40.18 percent of the votes ahead of his closest rival Hama Amadou who has 29 percent.

According to the electoral body, candidates contesting the results must follow the right procedure.

“We do not control the process for contesting elections. If they notice that the figures announced do not correspond with those they hold, they know who to go to and they can even proceed to the election judge. I cannot confirm their accusations. But I would advise them to follow the procedure for such litigation and to respect the democratic process,” said Maikoul Zodi, a member of the election authority.

Voting had to be extended to Monday due to logistical problems, but authorities said they met international standards.

A total of 7.5 million people were eligible to vote across the country, where security is a growing concern.