Benin Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni won the country’s presidential election in a landslide, taking more than 94% of the vote, according to provisional results announced late Monday.
Sacca Lafia, head of Benin’s independent electoral commission, said on national television that the tally was based on more than 90% of ballots counted and showed Wadagni with an unassailable lead. Voter turnout was 58.78%, he said.
Opposition candidate Paul Hounkpe of the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin party conceded defeat earlier Monday in a televised statement carried by local broadcasters.
“To Romuald Wadagni, I offer my republican congratulations. Democracy requires mutual respect and the ability to rise above partisan divides,” Hounkpe said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Wadagni, Benin’s finance minister and the chosen successor to President Patrice Talon, was backed by the ruling coalition. Talon is stepping down after serving two five-year terms.
The vote came four months after authorities said security forces, backed by Nigerian troops, foiled a coup attempt.
Nearly 8 million voters were eligible to vote, though turnout was slow early in the day, according to Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reporting from a polling station in the port city of Cotonou.
Hounkpe’s campaign argued that major tourism projects and strong economic growth, including 7.5% GDP growth in 2024, had not translated into meaningful improvements in living conditions.
Wadagni entered the race as the clear favorite after Benin’s main opposition party, the Democrats, failed to field a candidate and declined to endorse Hounkpe.
The ruling coalition now holds every seat in parliament after the Democrats failed to meet the 20% threshold needed to enter the National Assembly in the January 2026 legislative elections. The party won about 16% of the vote.