[2] Following a constitutional crisis in 2009, which was caused by Tandja's efforts to remain in office beyond his term, he was ousted by the military in a coup d'état on 18 February 2010.

After joining the Nigerien army and rising to the rank of colonel,[3] he participated in the 1974 coup that brought Seyni Kountché to power[4][5][6] and became a member of the Supreme Military Council.

He became Prefect of Maradi in 1976[6] before being appointed to the government as Minister of the Interior on 10 September 1979; he remained in the latter position until being replaced by Kountché himself on 31 August 1981.

[10] Tandja participated in an opposition protest against the government of the Alliance of the Forces of Change ruling coalition on 16 April 1994 and was arrested along with 90 others.

[18] Niger was heavily in debt and was not receiving any foreign aid due to the 1996 coup and subsequent suspension of democratic institutions.

On 31 July 2002, some soldiers in Diffa started a mutiny demanding pay and improved living conditions; this briefly spread to Niamey a few days later.

[19][20] Loyalists defeated the mutineers and restored peace by 9 August, but Tandja came under political fire for his decrees blocking communication about the rebellion.

[24][25] He was sworn in for his second term on 21 December at a ceremony at the Général Seyni Kountché Stadium in Niamey, which was attended by six other African presidents.

[26] Although there had been speculation about a possible constitutional change to enable Tandja to run again in 2009, he said in an interview with Le Monde, published on 6 October 2007, that he intended to step down at the end of his second term.

[30] The relationship with the French nuclear company Areva, which had enjoyed a de facto four decade monopoly in the country, worsened under Tandja as he sought to curb the power of French influence by striking a deal with Sino-U in 2007 to develop a uranium mine, resulting in competition for Areva.

Led by public figures of the MNSD outside government, the group took the name of Tandja's 2004 re-election slogan, Tazartché: a Hausa word meaning "Continuity".

[34] Then, in early May 2009, when questioned by the press on his visit to Agadez to begin peace talks with Tuareg rebels, Tandja announced he would seek a third term, saying.

[36][37][38][39] On 15 May 2009, in response to their parties' opposition to a proposed referendum to allow the President to seek a third term, the three members of RDP-Jama'a and ANDP-Zaman Lahiya were replaced with ministers drawn from the MNSD-Nassara.

This was immediately (the 25th) followed by a previously postponed one day general strike by seven labor confederations, and the abandonment of his government by the CDS-Rahama party of Mahamane Ousmane.

[50] On 18 February 2010, during a government meeting at the presidential palace, rebel soldiers attacked and deposed Tandja in a coup d'état, establishing a military junta called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD).

MNSD officials, including party leader Seyni Oumarou, promptly went to his home to greet and congratulate him, but it was not immediately clear whether he planned to return to active politics.