Gabon’s transitional leader and coup leader Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema has secured a landslide victory in the country’s presidential election, winning more than 90% of the vote, according to provisional results announced by the electoral commission.
Interior Minister Hermann Immongault, who also heads the electoral commission, announced the results in a televised statement Sunday, declaring Oligui Nguema the winner with 575,222 votes, or 90.35% of the total.
Oligui Nguema, 50, faced seven challengers in the race, including former Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, who received just 3% of the vote. While final vote tallies are still pending, the preliminary results represent a sweeping mandate for Oligui, who led the 2023 coup that ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Voter turnout reached 87.21%, with approximately 920,000 registered voters, including more than 28,000 overseas, casting ballots at more than 3,000 polling stations across the country.
A former head of Gabon’s elite Republican Guard, Oligui Nguema took power following the end of the Bongo family’s more than 50-year rule over the oil-rich Central African nation. The Bongo regime faced frequent accusations of corruption and mismanagement of the country’s oil wealth, leaving many citizens in poverty despite Gabon’s natural resources.
The result strengthens Oligui Nguema’s hold on power as he transitions from military leader to elected president.