Tandja, who denied the charges, had been detained by the military junta since February last year. A new civilian president, Mahamadou Issoufou, was sworn in last month.
“I always had faith in justice,” Tandja told Reuters as about 2,000 people lined the streets of the capital Niamey to greet him as he returned home. He said he had been well treated.
Tandja was moved to prison from house arrest in January, after the junta accused him of graft during his rule, according judicial sources.
“President Tandja will return to his home and family with head held high because all proceedings brought against him have been cancelled,” his lawyer Souley Oumarou told reporters after the Niamey appeal court ordered his release.
The junta alleged that an investigation revealed at least $128 million was stolen from state coffers during Tandja’s 10 years in office.