Gambiaj.com – (ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire) – President Alassane Ouattara has emerged as the clear winner of Côte d’Ivoire’s 2025 presidential election, securing 89.77% of the votes in provisional results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) on Monday, October 27. The 83-year-old leader, who has been in power since 2011, is now poised to begin a fourth term, pending confirmation of the results by the Constitutional Council.
According to the CEI, President Ouattara’s margin was overwhelming against his four challengers: Simone Ehivet Gbagbo of the Mouvement des Générations Capables (2.42%), Jean-Louis Billon of the Congrès Démocratique (3.09%), independent candidate Ahoua Don Mello (1.97%), and Henriette Lagou of the Groupement des Partis Politiques pour la Paix (1.15%).
Despite the victory, the turnout stood at 50.10%, marking a slight drop from 53.90% in 2020. Participation was notably low in some urban areas such as Abidjan’s Cocody (19.24%) and Gagnoa (20.68%), while Ouattara achieved near-unanimous results in several northern regions, including Kani, where he secured 99.68% of the vote with a 99.08% participation rate.
Opposition Denounces “Civil Coup”
While the election day remained largely calm, with minor incidents reported in around 2% of polling stations, the opposition denounced the process as fraudulent.
The “Front Commun,” a coalition between Laurent Gbagbo’s Parti des Peuples Africains-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) and Tidjiane Thiam’s Parti Démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire-Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (PDCI-RDA), issued a joint statement rejecting the results and calling for “credible, transparent, and inclusive elections.” The bloc described the vote as a “mascarade électorale” and a “coup d’État civil.”
Both Gbagbo and Thiam were excluded from the race after the Constitutional Council rejected their candidacies, leaving the field open for Ouattara’s dominance.
Independent candidate Ahoua Don Mello also condemned “atrocities” in the Haut-Sassandra region, where two people were reportedly killed. The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) confirmed that ten people have died in election-related incidents since mid-October.
Observers Hail Calm Process, Warn Against Fake News
Several election observer missions offered generally positive assessments of the voting process. The CNDH, which deployed 2,350 observers nationwide, praised the “serene” atmosphere and urged candidates to pursue disputes through legal channels.
The Consortium of Civil Society Organizations for Elections in Côte d’Ivoire (Coscel-CI), however, warned of widespread “disinformation and fake news campaigns” aimed at manipulating public opinion. It urged political actors to promote democratic values and non-violence.
The Sahel-Saharan States Community (CEN-SAD) also congratulated Ivorian authorities for conducting the poll peacefully and called on the international community to continue supporting Côte d’Ivoire’s democratic institutions.
With the Constitutional Council set to review complaints before declaring final results, Côte d’Ivoire braces for the next phase in what has historically been a tense electoral process, though this time, Alassane Ouattara’s dominance appears undisputed.
