Gabon’s military leader announces he will run in April presidential election

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) - Gabon’s military leader announced Monday that he would run as a candidate in the oil-rich central African nation's presidential election set for April 12.

Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, who is interim president, led a 2023 military coup that toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who many Gabonese accused of irresponsible governance and major embezzlement that risked leading the country into chaos.

"After careful consideration and in response to your numerous appeals, I have decided to stand as a candidate in the presidential election," Nguema said during a speech to his supporters in the capital Libreville.

In August 2023, soldiers proclaimed Nguema, who was the republican guard chief and a cousin of Bongo, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country.

The announcement of his candidacy came after the adoption last month by Gabon's parliament of a new electoral code, which sets out the rules and conditions for organizing elections in the country.

The legislation was contentious as it authorized military personnel to be candidates in all political elections in the country, which wasn’t possible in the past. It paved the way for Nguema to run for his first presidential term.

Gabon's constitution, which was adopted in a referendum in November, sets the presidential term at seven years, renewable once.

Bongo, the toppled president, had served two terms after coming to power in 2009 following the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. There was widespread discontent with his family's reign.

Gabon, a former French colony, is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few - and nearly 40% of Gabonese ranging in age from 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.