By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Voters in Gabon on Sunday awaited the outcome of the Central African nation’s presidential election, a poll in which the military leader hopes to legitimise his grip on power after ousting a democratic government in 2023.
Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who led the coup and named himself transitional president, looks set to win Saturday’s election by a wide margin, analysts have predicted.
Observers said Nguema, 50, had agents at the majority of the more than 3,000 polling stations where elections took place on Saturday, an indication of his campaign’s reach.
Local observers have also rated the conduct of the poll as satisfactory in nearly all the polling stations monitored.
Nguema, who after the coup promised not to run as a civilian leader, had most of the votes collated so far in the few voting stations that have announced results, according to local media reports.
He is in the presidential race with seven other candidates, including former Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, his main challenger. Bilie-By-Nze accused Nguema of taking advantage of state resources to push his campaign, an allegation the government denies.
This is the first election in the country since the 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty of the Bongo family that lasted over 50 years.
About 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to vote in the election, which is seen as crucial for the country, where a third of the population of 2.3 million lives in poverty despite the nation’s oil wealth.
According to the Gabonese Civil Society Organisations Observation Mission, at least 94.8% of the polling stations observed operated under satisfactory conditions, while the transparency of operations was deemed satisfactory in 98.6% of cases.
Observers also reported that while Nguema had his representatives present in 69.6% of the polling stations observed, his main rival Bilie-By-Nze had representation in just 8.2%.
Nguema, former head of the Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba in August 2023 after Bongo secured an election win that the opposition said was rigged. He hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office.
After casting his ballot on Saturday in the capital, Libreville, the interim president said he felt proud of the citizens seeking to “turn the page to join the new Republic.”
