LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) 鈥 The former prime minister of Gabon, who lost a presidential election on Saturday, criticized the outcome as opaque and unfree in a statement to the press on Monday morning.
鈥淲hat we experienced on Saturday, April 12 was not a free election,鈥 said former Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. "Never, since entering politics, have I witnessed such a hijacking of all State resources."
Bilie-By-Nze lost to Oligui Nguema, who scored a landslide victory with 90.35% of votes, defeating seven other candidates. Bilie-By-Nze came in a distant second with 3% of the votes.
This was Gabon鈥檚 first election since the and was seen as a for 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.
Nguema, the former head of the country鈥檚 Republican Guard, President Ali Bongo Ondimba in August 2023 in a bloodless , ending a 55-year political dynasty begun by Bongo's father, Omar Bongo.
Nguema hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office.
Bilie-By-Nze, who served as prime minister to Ali Bongo for a little over seven months before the coup, wished the new leadership good luck and promised to remain in politics.
