The loser of Gabon's first presidential election since a 2023 military coup criticizes the result

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LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — 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.

“What we experienced on Saturday, April 12 was not a free election,” 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’s first election since the 2023 military coup and was seen as a crucial election for the central African nation’s 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth.

Nguema, the former head of the country’s Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba in August 2023 in a bloodless coup, 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.