Mohamed Bazoum, a former minister and candidate of the ruling party in the Republic of Niger presidential election has won the first round and looks good to emerge the winner in a run-off. His campaign is being funded by President Muhammadu Buhari’s kinsman and  popular Katsina Billionaire, Alhaji Dahiru Mangal.

Mangal reportedly donated over a hundred campaign vehicles in support of the presidential election bid of Bazoum.

In a recent undated video the presentation of the vehicles was made in Maradi, the second-largest city in the Niger Republic which is also a border town between Nigeria and the country.

The vehicles were all branded with “Mohammed Bazoum, 2021” with a conspicuous photo of the presidential candidate on them. With a net worth estimated around $765 Million, Alh. Dahiru Barau Mangal is a business mogul, an entrepreneur, industrialist and seasoned management expert who founded Max Air Limited in 2008.

His donation has boosted Mohamed Bazoum’s chances who is already a protege of President Issoufou and the candidate for the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS).

Mohamed Bazoum is a Nigerien Arab politician who has been President of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya) since 2011. He served in the government of Niger as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996 and again from 2011 to 2015. He was Minister of State at the Presidency from 2015 to 2016 and was Minister of State for the Interior between 2016 and the summer of 2020 when he resigned to focus on running for the 2020 presidential election.

Bazoum won the first round of Niger’s presidential vote, the electoral commission announced on Saturday, with a runoff set for next month.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said the close ally of outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou garnered 39.33 percent of the votes in last weekend’s election.

Bazoum will face former president Mahamane Ousmane, who won 16.99 percent, in the February 20 runoff in the West African country, which is fighting a bloody jihadist insurgency.

Former prime ministers Seini Oumarou and Albade Abouba came third and fourth respectively with 8.95 percent and 7.07 percent of the ballots.

Turnout reached 69.67 percent or 5.2 million of the 7.4 million registered voters, CENI said, in an election hoped to be the country’s first peaceful handover between elected presidents.