DAKAR (Reuters) – Niger’s ruling party candidate Mohamed Bazoum has extended his lead in a presidential election runoff that is meant to usher in the first democratic transition of power in the West African nation, election commission data showed on Tuesday.

Bazoum leads his challenger, former president Mahamane Ousmane, with 57.7% of the vote share, results from 210 out of 266 constituencies released by the commission showed.

(Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Gareth Jones)