Libreville, Gabon – Brigadier General Brice Oligui Nguema, the interim president and leader of Gabon’s military junta, has won the country’s presidential election with an overwhelming majority, according to provisional results released Sunday by the Interior Ministry.
Interior Minister Hermann Immongault announced at a press conference in Libreville that Nguema secured 90.35% of the vote. His closest challenger, former Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze, garnered just 3.02%, while the remaining six candidates failed to surpass 1% of the vote.
These preliminary results must still be confirmed by the Constitutional Court, which will also be responsible for adjudicating any electoral appeals in the coming days.
“Now we have to turn the page on the presidential elections. Tomorrow is a working day, and we must go back to work to build Gabon,” Nguema said at his campaign headquarters in the capital, surrounded by jubilant supporters, as reported by EFE.
More than 920,000 registered voters—out of a population of approximately 2.5 million—cast their ballots at around 3,000 polling stations across Gabon’s nine provinces and in embassies and consulates in nearly 30 countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Election day proceeded peacefully and was marked by long lines of voters eager to choose their next leader. According to the Interior Ministry, voter turnout reached 70.04%, a significant increase from the 56.65% recorded during the contentious presidential election of August 2023.
That election had sparked political upheaval: shortly after the authorities declared Ali Bongo the winner, the military intervened, deposing the president. Bongo had first taken office in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the country since 1967.
Both the opposition and the military condemned the 2023 vote as lacking transparency, fairness, and inclusivity.
Saturday’s election marks a critical milestone in Gabon’s path toward democratic transition. The military-led ouster of the Bongo dynasty brought an end to more than five decades of family rule in one of Africa’s major oil-producing nations.
Of the five West and Central African countries that have experienced military coups since 2020—namely Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Gabon—Gabon is the only one on the brink of restoring civilian governance. It also remains one of the few to maintain strong diplomatic and economic ties with its former colonial power, France.
The country is expected to hold legislative and local elections in the coming months, further solidifying its transition to democratic rule.
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