Brice Oligui Nguema had promised to relinquish power after he led a coup in 2023. He now is set to lead the oil-rich country for the next seven years.

The result cements Nguema's grip on power 19 months after the coup ended more than half a century of rule by the Bongo family in Gabon, an oil producer with a population of around 2.5 million.

Gabonese expressed themselves following the provisional results indicating that Brice Oligui Nguema, the military junta who removed longtime president Ali Bongo in a coup in 2023, has emerged victorious in Gabon's presidential election,