page_title: History of Niger
section_title: 1974 to 1990
hierarchical_section_title: History of Niger / 1974 to 1990
caption_attribution_description: English: A member of the Paratroop Regiment, armed forces of Niger (FNIS) stands at attention next to a mobile medical unit, part of a humanitarian airlift from the United States.
context_page_description: This is the history of Niger. See also the history of Africa and the history of West Africa.
context_section_description: On 15 April 1974, Lieutenant colonel Seyni Kountché led a military coup that ended Diori's rule. Diori was imprisoned until 1980 and remained under house arrest. The government that followed, while plagued by coup attempts of its own, survived until 1993.  While a period of relative prosperity, the military government of the period allowed little free expression and engaged in arbitrary imprisonment and killing. The first presidential elections took place in 1993 (33 years after independence), and the first municipal elections only took place in 2007.
  Upon Kountché's death in 1987, he was succeeded by his Chief of Staff and cousin, Col. Ali Saibou. Saibou liberalized some of Niger's laws and policies, and promulgated a new constitution. He released political prisoners, including Diori and his old political nemesis Djibo Bakary. However, President Saibou's efforts to control political reforms failed in the face of union and student demands to institute a multi-party democratic system. The Saibou regime acquiesced to these demands by the end of 1990. New political parties and civic associations sprang up, and a National Conference was convened in July 1991 to prepare the way for the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of free and fair elections. The debate was often contentious and accusatory, but under the leadership of Prof. André Salifou, the conference developed consensus on the modalities of a transitional government.
caption: A member of the FAN Parachute Company, 1988.
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