Who Is Brice Oligui Nguema, Elected As Gabon President With 90.35% of Vote?

Brice Oligui Nguema, the former general who seized power in a military coup in August 2023, has officially won Gabon’s presidential election with 90.35% of the vote, Reuters reported, citing provisional results announced by the country’s interior minister on Sunday.

The landslide victory cements Nguema’s hold on power just 19 months after leading a coup that brought an end to more than 50 years of Bongo family rule in the Central African nation of 2.5 million people, the report said.

His closest rival in the eight-candidate race, Alain Claude Bilie By Nze — a former prime minister under President Ali Bongo — garnered just 3.02% of the vote, according to the results.

According to the report, Nguema, who led the August 2023 coup following a disputed election, has since positioned himself as a reformist leader, vowing to break from the corruption and economic stagnation that critics say defined the Bongo era.

Wearing a baseball cap with his campaign slogan, “We Build Together,” Nguema ran on a platform of economic diversification and national renewal.

He pledged to reduce Gabon’s dependence on oil and instead promote agriculture, industry, and tourism, aiming to improve living standards in a country where one-third of the population lives in poverty despite its oil wealth, the report said.

According to the report, voter turnout stood at 70.40%, significantly higher than the 56.65% recorded in the August 2023 election, which triggered the military takeover.

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