Opposition parties in Niger have rejected provisional results from Sunday’s presidential elections that showed incumbent Mahamadou Issofou to be leading.
The opposition says the results released so far are fraudulent, and that it cannot recognise them.
Provisional results from 20 of the West African country’s 308 municipalities show Issoufou garnered 40.18 percent of the vote, more than 10 percentage points ahead of his closest rival.
“These results are completely contrary to what was expressed at the ballot box,” said Amadou Boubacar Cisse, an election candidate and spokesman for the Coalition for Change group of opposition parties.
“We cannot recognise them such as they have been proclaimed so far,” he said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to announce the final result later this week.
The run-up to the vote was marred by accusations of repression and a row over identification documents.
President Mahamadou Issoufou is hoping to secure a second term in the impoverished West African nation.
