Gabon - April 2025

On 12 April, Gabon held its first presidential election since the 2023 coup (which had immediately followed the August 2023 general presidential elections), four months ahead of the schedule set out in the transitional charter. The sitting transitional president and coup leader General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema won the election decisively running as an independent candidate with the endorsement of all major political parties. The Constitutional Court’s final tallies reported that he received 94.9 per cent of the votes. There were seven other candidates (all independent) in the election, only one of whom is a woman. Among the other candidates only Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze (who had been prime minister until the 2023 coup) received more than 1 per cent of the vote (with 3 per cent). The Constitutional Court reported turnout of 70.1 per cent, a significant increase from the reported provisional 56.6 per cent turnout in the 2023 presidential election. Observers from the Commonwealth found the election to be ‘largely transparent… and conducted in accordance with the established legislative framework of Gabon.’ The final phase of the transition will include the organization of legislative and local elections scheduled for 27 September and 11 October 2025. 

Sources: France24, Associated Press, TV5 Monde, The Commonwealth

Electoral participation significantly improved during Gabon’s first post-coup presidential election. In the official results certified by the Constitutional Court, turnout was registered at 70.1 per cent of the registered voters. This is a nearly 14-point increase from the 56.6 per cent turnout in the 2023 presidential election that immediately preceded the coup. The 2025 turnout is the highest reported level in Gabon in the last three decades. 

Sources: France24, Associated Press