By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Following the presidential election in Benin on Sunday, the sole opposition candidate in the poll, Paul Hounkpe, has conceded defeat to the ruling party’s candidate and the Finance Minister, Romuald Wadagni, state-owned television reported on Monday.
Hounkpe, of the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin party, acknowledged his defeat in a statement on Monday before provisional results were announced, according to a social media post by the state television network.
Wadagni, 49 was chosen as successor for the outgoing President Patrice Talon and he enjoyed the support of the ruling coalition. The election came four months after the West African nation survived a coup attempt.
The finance minister was the overwhelming favourite after the main opposition party, The Democrats, failed to get enough lawmakers to sponsor a candidate of its own for the election. It also failed to back Hounkpe.
If declared winner, Wadagni will come under pressure to bolster the country’s defences in the north, which faces a growing threat from jihadist groups based in the central Sahel.
The disgruntled soldiers who staged the December coup attempt said they were partly motivated by deteriorating security conditions there.
“A stable transition in Benin is important not only for the country itself but also for the broader West Africa region, given the political instability caused by successive coups in the Sahel,” Heni Nsaibia, a senior West Africa analyst for Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a conflict monitoring group.
“It is therefore especially necessary to focus efforts on stabilizing the north, preventing further upheaval, and demonstrating a model of stability for the broader region.”
Wadagni has also vowed to deliver on bread-and-butter issues like expanding access to clean water, expanding social security programmes and guaranteeing emergency healthcare regardless of ability to pay.
