Mohamed Bazoum (Arabic: محمد بازوم, romanized: Muḥammad Bāzūm; born 1 January 1960)[2] is a Nigerien politician who served as the 10th president of Niger from 2021 to 2023.

[18] He was initially reappointed to that post after Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara seized power in a military coup on 27 January 1996, but he was replaced in the government named on 5 May 1996.

[20] Bazoum was arrested along with two other major opposition politicians, including MNSD Secretary-General Hama Amadou, in early January 1998, for allegedly participating in a plot to assassinate Maïnassara.

[31] Following the success of the referendum, he characterized it as a "coup d'état" and said that the October 2009 parliamentary election was an "electoral farce" intended merely to add a "democratic polish".

[40] After Issoufou was sworn in for a second term, Bazoum was appointed as Minister of State for the Interior, Public Security, Decentralization, and Customary and Religious Affairs on 11 April 2016.

Bazoum's presidential campaign focused on ideas such as resolving demographic problems within Niger by limiting family size and increasing literacy and gender equality through more education for girls.

[45] In December 2022, Bazoum was appointed current president of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), during the 23rd ordinary summit of heads of state and government of the organization in Abidjan.

Sources close to Bazoum said that he had decided on Tchiani's dismissal at a cabinet meeting prior to the coup, on 24 July as their relations had reportedly become strained.

[57] His foreign minister Hassoumi Massaoudou insisted that the country's "legal and legitimate power" remained with the president and reiterated that Bazoum was in good condition.

[57] Bazoum was believed to be detained at the presidential palace along with his wife Hadiza and son Salem; his daughters were vacationing in Paris at the time of the coup.

[59] Despite being detained, Bazoum has continuously refused to resign and has been able to get in contact with world leaders and officials such as French President Emmanuel Macron,[60] UN Secretary-General António Guterres,[61] AU Commissioner Moussa Faki,[62] and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

[63] On 31 July, the office of Chadian president Mahamat Déby released pictures of him meeting with a smiling Bazoum, marking his first appearance since the coup.

[64] On 3 August, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Bazoum expressed that he was writing "as a hostage" and called on the US and the "entire international community" to help "restore... constitutional order," warning that the region could "fall further under Russian influence.

"[65] On 9 August, his PNDS-Tarayya party announced that he and his family had been without both electricity and running water for a week, and had only dried and canned foods left to eat.

[70] On 10 December, ECOWAS hosted a summit in which member states promised to lift sanctions imposed on Niger if the junta freed Bazoum.

Bazoum continued to refuse to sign his resignation decree and remained imprisoned with his wife by the Nigerien junta at his presidential residence.