Constitutional Council Judges handling elections petitions in Cameroon have rejected calls by opposition parties for the partial or total cancellation of the heavily disputed presidential election held on October 12, 2025.
Accordingly, the judges have assured Cameroonians they will officially announce the result on Monday, October 27 amid protests currently rocking major cities in the country.
This is as opposition supporters continue to allege that the 12 October poll was marred by irregularities, including ballot-stuffing and other electoral malpractices.
Already, the Judges have thrown out eight petitions, citing insufficient evidence of irregularities or a lack of jurisdiction to annul results.
But not backing down in his position, Opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who has declared himself winner of the contentious election, refused to file complaints with the Constitutional Council.
In choosing to declare himself the “legal and legitimate president”, a claim rejected by allies of 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who is seeking another seven-year term, Bakary said he has no trust and confidence in a Constitutional Council whose judges were personally selected by President Biya,
Interestingly, ahead of the presidential poll, Biya, who has held on to power for 43 years, addressed only one campaign.
The 76-year-old Bakary, is a former government spokesman who broke ranks with President Biya to challenge him for power.
In a video statement posted on social media, Tchiroma Bakary said he had won the election with about 55 percent of the vote, based on what he said were returns representing 80 percent of the electorate.
He stated thus: “If the Constitutional Council proclaims falsified and truncated results, it will be complicit in a breach of trust.”
Also, Bakary warned that “with their backs against the wall, the people will have no choice but to take their destiny into their own hands and seek victory wherever they can find it”.
Biya’s ruling party has dismissed his claims of victory and several officials have described it as illegal because only the Constitutional Council can proclaim official results.
Already, the influential Catholic Church this week urged the judges to ensure that the verdict reflected the will of voters.
Meanwhile, the growing tensions have sparked fears of post-electoral violence in a country already rocked by a separatist conflict in the Anglophone regions and Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North region. – With BBC reports
