Niger opposition¹ leader Mahamadou Issoufou won Saturday's presidential run-off with nearly 58% of the vote, the election commission has announced.

尼日尔选举委员会宣布，反对党领袖Mahamadou Issoufou在上周六的总统选举中以58%的得票率胜出。

It was third time lucky for Niger opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou
Mr Issoufou had been defeated in two previous polls by former President Mamadou Tandja, who was ousted² by the military a year ago.

The presidential candidate for Mr Tandja's MNSD party, ex-premier Seini Oumarou, received about 42% of ballots⁴.

The election is intended to return Niger to civilian⁵ rule.

Social Democratic Party leader Mr Issoufou, 59, was the favourite going into the run-off, having led the first round of voting in January.

'Example to Africa'

The army, which has pledged to step down by April, said before the ballot³ that it was not backing either candidate.

Mr Tandja spent 10 years in power before being overthrown⁶（推翻，打倒） in a military coup⁷ in February last year when he tried to overstay his legal term limit.

The former president is currently in prison facing charges of corruption⁸.

General Salou Djibo, who has led the junta⁹ since its largely popular coup, hailed Saturday's peaceful vote as an example to the rest of Africa.

Turnout was about 48%.

Niger, a largely desert nation in West Africa, has reserves of uranium and has attracted billions of dollars of investment.

It remains¹⁰ one of the world's poorest nations, and has witnessed a number of coups¹¹ since independence from France in 1960.

Al-Qaeda has been blamed for a spate（洪水，一阵） of kidnappings and killings¹³ of Westerners in the region in recent years.