By Ebenezer ADUROKIYA, Reporting From Benin
COTONOU — The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has issued a preliminary report on Benin’s 12 April presidential election, praising the overall calm of the vote while raising serious concerns over isolated but significant irregularities; including ballot stuffing, attempted vote-buying, intimidation of polling agents, and premature openings.
The election, which saw a two-ticket race under Benin’s newly revised constitutional framework, was won by the ruling coalition’s Wadagni/Talata ticket.
However, the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission has highlighted multiple procedural flaws that it says could affect confidence in the electoral process.
In its preliminary declaration released in Cotonou, and read by the former president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the mission noted that while 85% of polling stations opened on time, some opened well before the legally mandated hour. In the Ouémé department, polling station No. 03 at the Agbalilame social centre reportedly opened at 5:00 am — two hours early. Another station in Avrankou began voting at 6:05 am, often in the absence of party representatives.
“These dysfunctions, although isolated, are clearly at odds with the provisions of the legal and regulatory framework in force,” the report stated.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who’s the President of the ECOWAS Observation Commission to the Republic of Benin for the April 12, Presidential Election, also noted widespread logistical shortcomings, including late delivery of electoral materials and poor queue management. In some cases, polling staff arrived late or were absent entirely at opening time.
More troubling were observations made during voting itself. According to the report, ECOWAS observers documented ballot stuffing, attempted vote-buying (“achat de conscience”), and intimidation of electoral agents at certain polling stations.
“All these situations would need to be corrected in the future,” the mission said, while adding that these practices remained isolated and did not fundamentally undermine the overall regularity of the vote.
The mission observed 1,253 polling stations across Benin’s 12 departments.
During the closing and counting phase, observers reported a calm and orderly atmosphere but noted “notable differences in the vote count, with a high number of invalid ballots in some polling stations, exceeding the number of votes obtained by the opposition duo.”
The opposition ticket of Hounkpe/Hounwanou had been largely invisible during the campaign compared to the ruling coalition’s well-resourced operation, the report said.
Recommendations: training, legal deadlines, and dialogue
The mission, headed by former Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, issued several key recommendations to include: Strengthen training for polling staff to ensure strict adherence to opening hours, procedures, and integrity standards, Improve the electoral roll through continued updating and civic education on voter list registration, and set clear legal deadlines for the proclamation of provisional results to enhance transparency and predictability.
Other recommendations included: reinforce national political dialogue in a spirit of consensus and inclusion to consolidate social cohesion, the Mission encourages the Beninese authorities and political actors to continue their efforts to strengthen national dialogue, in a spirit of consensus and inclusion, with a view to consolidating social cohesion and national unity in Benin,” the report read.
Stonix News reports that the election took place under a revised Constitution adopted in December 2025, introducing a seven-year presidential term renewable once in a lifetime, the creation of a Senate, and a controversial “political truce” suspending political debate for six years following the presidential vote.
Opposition parties, despite winning 16.2% of legislative votes in January 2026, hold no parliamentary seats — a fact noted by ECOWAS.
Speaking after the report’s release, mission chief Akufo-Addo struck a balanced tone.
“The Mission congratulates the Beninese people for their sense of responsibility and their generally exemplary behaviour throughout the electoral process,” the declaration said.
It also singled out opposition candidate Hounkpe for commendation: “The Mission congratulates candidate Hounkpe for having accepted the results and congratulated candidate Wadagni before the declaration of the provisional results.”
Nevertheless, the former Ghanaian leader’s team made clear that Benin must address the observed failings before future elections.
“The occurrence of these irregularities, even if limited, underlines the need to strengthen logistical arrangements, training of electoral officers, and supervision mechanisms, in order to ensure greater compliance with legal requirements and preserve citizens’ confidence in the integrity of the electoral process,” the report concluded.
ECOWAS deployed 150 short-term observers across 10 departments, supplementing a long-term mission that had been on the ground since March. The organisation provided $260,000 in financial support to electoral stakeholders.
Benin, long seen as a West African democratic model, has now completed President Patrice Talon’s two constitutionally permitted terms. Talon was not a candidate in this election.
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