Amadou was from the Kurtey, a Fula[1] sub-group, and was raised in the Tillaberi Region, in the Niger River valley, north of Niamey.

Following corruption allegations against his government, he was removed from office as Prime Minister through a 2007 no-confidence vote in the National Assembly of Niger.

In 2008, he became the target of a corruption investigation which saw him arrested to face criminal charges at the Nigerien High Court of Justice and removed from his post as MNSD President.

[4] During the regime of Seyni Kountché, Amadou was Director-General of the Office of Radio Broadcasting and Television of Niger (ORTN) from 1983 to 1985 and became Director of the Cabinet in 1985.

Following Kountché's death,[5] Amadou was named Minister of Information under his successor, Ali Saibou, on 15 July 1988, serving until 20 December 1989.

[9] In another election held in January 1995, an opposition alliance, primarily composed of the MNSD and the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), won a majority of seats, resulting in cohabitation between the government, led by Amadou, and President Mahamane Ousmane.

[10] On 27 January 1996, a military coup led by Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara ousted both Amadou and Ousmane,[10] and they were both placed under house arrest for several months.

[24][25] Although supported by the MNSD deputies,[25] two other groups, including the CDS, joined the opposition Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) to form a majority against the government.

The Gendarmerie Nationale of Niger opened another investigation into the former prime minister, this time on charges he had embezzled 100 million CFA (Euros152,500) of foreign aid for independent press and communications development during the 2000 to 2006 period.

[27] Mamadou Tandja called a special session of the National Assembly on 14 June 2008 to examine the case, as all sitting members of parliament hold immunity from prosecution.

This decision was not accepted by Amadou's opponents in the party, who voted to instead install Hamidou Sékou as Interim President on 7 September 2008.

A special congress of the MNSD-Nassara held in Zinder on 21 February 2009 elected Prime Minister Oumarou to succeed Amadou as MNSD President.

[35][36] Amadou was transferred from Koutoukalé prison to the National Hospital in Niamey in early March 2009, suffering from an unidentified illness, which the government stated was not life-threatening.

Three weeks later, at the beginning of April, he was transferred back to prison, despite protests and a march by his supporters in Niamey, and legal action by his lawyers.

Agence France-Presse reported that government medical experts brought to clear him for release back to prison had recommended he be transferred instead to a hospital in France, but were overruled.

[38] Amadou's lawyers announced in April 2009 that the instruction and formation of the High Court of Justice was complete and they expected a trial to commence.

Pointing to an inquiry that alleged Amadou held 15,000 shares in Ecobank, Nigerien authorities issued an international warrant for his arrest on 30 July 2009.

On 11 July 2010, he publicly announced his desire to stand as the MDN's candidate for the January 2011 presidential election and vowed to "fight as hard as I can to win power".

On 27 August 2014, the National Assembly's leadership, in response to a request from the government, decided to allow the arrest of Amadou, who was not present, in connection with an investigation into an illegal network trafficking infants from Nigeria.

[46] Amadou returned to Niger on 14 November 2015, planning to stand as a candidate in the 2016 presidential election, but he was immediately arrested upon arrival at the airport in Niamey.

After a medical crisis in which he was said to have briefly lost consciousness, he was moved from the prison in Filingue to Niamey; he was then taken to Paris for treatment on 16 March.

[56] The Niamey Court of Appeal issued an order for the "provisional release" of Amadou on 29 March 2016, although by that point he had already been out of the country for nearly two weeks.