Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the military general who led Gabon’s 2023 coup, has been officially declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, securing a commanding 90.35% of the vote, according to provisional results announced Sunday by the electoral commission.

“Elected, with the absolute majority of this vote, with 575,222 votes, or 90.35%, Mr. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema. Thank you,” Interior Minister and electoral commission chief Hermann Immongault said in a nationally televised broadcast.

Oligui Nguema, 50, emerged victorious against seven other candidates, including former Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, who received just 3% of the vote. The results are pending confirmation from some polling stations, but they signal a sweeping mandate for the transitional leader who seized power after the removal of longtime President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

The election recorded a high turnout of 87.21%, with approximately 920,000 registered voters — including more than 28,000 abroad — participating across more than 3,000 polling stations nationwide.

A former head of Gabon’s powerful Republican Guard, Oligui Nguema took office as transitional president following the August 2023 coup that ended over five decades of Bongo family rule. The Bongos, who had governed the oil-rich Central African nation since 1967, faced widespread criticism over alleged corruption and the mismanagement of national resources.

Under the Bongo regime, critics accused the ruling elite of enriching themselves through Gabon’s lucrative oil revenues while much of the population remained impoverished.

The election result marks a pivotal moment for Gabon, as the country looks toward a new political era under Oligui Nguema’s leadership.