Brice Oligui Nguema, leader of Gabon’s transitional government who led the 2023 coup, has claimed a decisive victory in the country’s presidential election.
The military leader secured 90.35 per cent of the vote, according to provisional results released by the Ministry of the Interior on Sunday.
Nguema, who ousted long-time ruler Ali Bongo in August 2023, cast his vote on April 12, 2025, at the Centre Urban Pilot School in Libreville, where the election took place, BusinessDay reports.
In the race, Oligui Nguema’s closest competitor, Alain-Claude Bilie Bie Nze, garnered just 3.02 per cent of the vote, while the remaining six candidates failed to break the 1% mark. The election, which saw a 70.4 per cent voter turnout, marks a significant step in Gabon’s return to constitutional rule after the military-led transition.
After his coup against President Bongo, Oligui Nguema had initially pledged to hand power back to civilian authorities. However, he officially entered the race last month, presenting himself as a “civilian” after being granted leave from his military duties. With this overwhelming victory, Oligui Nguema is set to serve a seven-year term, which is renewable once.
It’s Gabon’s first election since the 2023 military coup ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years.
Some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to vote in the election, seen as crucial for the country where a third of the population of 2.3 million people live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.
At least 94.8 per cent of the polling stations observed operated under satisfactory conditions, while the transparency of operations was deemed satisfactory in 98.6 per cent of cases, the Gabonese Civil Society Organisations Observation Mission said late Saturday.
The interim president had his representatives present in 69.6 per cent of the polling stations observed while Bilie-By-Nze’s representation stood at just 8.2 per cent, the observers said.
Oligui Nguema, 50, the former head of the republican guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba nearly two years ago.
