Abdou Labo

Abdou Labo is a Nigerien politician and a member of the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS-Rahama). He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Defense from 1994 to 1995, as Minister of Equipment from 2000 to 2002, as Minister of State for Sports and Culture from 2002 to 2004, and then as Minister of State for Hydraulics from 2004 to 2007. Since April 2011, he has been Minister of State for the Interior.

Political career

In the government named on April 23, 1993, following elections in which CDS leader Mahamane Ousmane was elected President and the coalition that included the CDS won a parliamentary majority, Labo was appointed Secretary of State in charge of Communication, under the Minister of Communication, Culture, Youth and Sports, Hassoumi Massoudou.[1][2] He served in this position until being appointed Minister of National Defense in the government of Prime Minister Souley Abdoulaye, which was named on October 5, 1994; this government served only briefly,[2][3] however, and Labo left the government after the CDS lost the January 1995 parliamentary election.

The 1999 parliamentary election was won by an alliance of the National Movement for the Development of Society (MNSD) and the CDS, and Labo was appointed as Minister of Equipment and Transport in the government named on January 5, 2000. In the government named on September 17, 2001, he became Minister of Equipment, Housing, and Territorial Administration, and in the government named on November 8, 2002 he became Minister of State in charge of Sports, Culture, and the Francophone Games.[4] Following the December 2004 parliamentary election, in which Labo was elected as a CDS candidate to the National Assembly from Maradi constituency,[5] Labo remained in the government and was appointed Minister of State in charge of Hydraulics, the Environment, and the Fight Against Desertification on December 30.[4] In the government named on March 1, 2007, Labo remained Minister of State but was left in charge of only hydraulics. He was the second ranking member of government, after Prime Minister Hama Amadou.[6] He was not included in the government of Prime Minister Seyni Oumarou, named on June 9, 2007, following a no-confidence vote against the previous government;[7] President Mamadou Tandja decided that ministers who had served in the government for over five years should be excluded from it on that occasion.[8]

Labo has been a National Vice-President of the CDS, representing Maradi Department, since 2002.[9]

Although the CDS and its President, Mahamane Ousmane, backed Seyni Oumarou for the second round of the January–March 2011 presidential election, Labo supported Oumarou's opponent, Mahamadou Issoufou.[10] Issoufou won the election and took office as President on 7 April 2011; he then appointed Labo to the government as Minister of State for the Interior, Public Security, Decentralization, and Religious Affairs on 21 April 2011.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ Bulletin de l'Afrique noire, issues 1,615–1,659 (1993), page 202 (French).
  2. ^ a b "Gouvernements du Président Mahamane Ousmane", official web site of the Nigerien presidency (French).
  3. ^ Marchés tropicaux et méditerranéens, issues 2,552–2,564 (1994), page 2,147 (French).
  4. ^ a b "Gouvernements de la transition de Tandja Mamadou", official website of the Nigerien presidency (French).
  5. ^ List of deputies elected in the 2004 election by constituency, National Assembly website (2005 archive page) (French).
  6. ^ "Gouvernement du 1er mars 2007 : Iniquité et part du lion du MNSD", Roue de l'Histoire, n° 342, 7 March 2007 (French).
  7. ^ Oumarou Keïta, "Le 3e Gouveenement de la 2e mandature de Tandja. Fera-t-il mieux que les précédents ?", Le Republicain-Niger, June 13, 2007 (French).
  8. ^ "Remaniement ministériel: Le départ du gouvernement des principaux indésirables", Roue de l'Histoire, n° 356, June 13, 2007 (French).
  9. ^ Yahaya Garba, "6ème congrès de la CDS-Rahama: Un congrès expéditif et sans enjeu", Roue de l’Histoire n° 368, September 5, 2007 (French).
  10. ^ "Les moeurs politiques en danger: L’émergence d’une nouvelle élite politique s’impose", TamTam Info, 25 February 2011 (French).
  11. ^ "Le Chef de l'Etat signe un décret portant composition des membres du premier gouvernement de la 7ème République", Le Sahel, 23 April 2011 (French).
  12. ^ "Niger unveils new government", AFP, 21 April 2011.