DAKAR: Opposition parties in Niger on Tuesday rejected initial results from Sunday's presidential election that showed incumbent Mahamadou Issoufou in the lead, calling them fraudulent.

Provisional results from 20 of the West African country's 308 municipalities show Issoufou garnered 40.18 percent of the vote, more than 10 percentage points ahead of his closest rival.

"These results are completely contrary to what was expressed at the ballot box," said Amadou Boubacar Cisse, an election candidate and spokesman for the Coalition for Change group of opposition parties.