BITS AND PIECES ON THE OCTOBER 12, 2025 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN CAMEROON (Tuesday, October 28, 2025): PART 2

Official Result Shows That BIYA Won The Election In 6 Regions, Including Far North, While TCHIROMA Won In 4 Regions. But TCHIROMA’S Owned Result Showed That He Won Far North, Beating Biya In Diamare (Maroua), Mayo Kani, Mayo Tsanaga, And Mayo Danay Divisions, While BIYA Beat Him In CAVAYE YEGUIE’S Mayo Sava, And Logone Et Chari (Kousseri) Divisions.  The Mentor Takes A Close Look, At The 18 Divisions, That TCHIROMA’S Team Selected For Their Compilation Of Election Results.  How Credible Was Their Claim That The Number Of Registered Voters In The 18 Divisions, Constituted 80 % Of Registered Voters In The Country?  Another High Abstention Rate (High Voter Apathy) At The 2025 Presidential Election   – Cameroonians Cry For Change, But Fail To Vote. ETC

 The Official Result of Paul Biya And Issa Tchiroma, Region By Region, In Cameroon

The official result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election which was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council on Monday, October 27, 2025, showed that as regard the 10 regions of the country, incumbent Paul Biya of the ruling CPDM, won the election in 6 of the regions, that is, Centre, East, Far North, Northwest, South, and Southwest Regions, while his immediately challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakari  of FSNC,  a former member of government, won  the remaining four regions – Adamawa, Littoral North and West Regions.  Non of the other 10 candidates who took part in the election, even came close to winning a Division.  Below is the official result, region and by region as was proclaimed yesterday by the Constitutional Council. We limit it to the two major candidates, Paul Biya and Issa Tchiroma, who won the 10 regions.

1) ADAMAWA Region:  ISSA TCHIROMA   –       50.33 %     PAUL BIYA     –            34.61

2) CENTRE Region:           PAUL BIYA             –      70.14%     ISSA TCHIROMA –      21.62 %

3) EAST Region    :             PAUL BIYA            –        73. 88 %   ISSA TCHIROMA   –     19.82%

4) FAR NORTH Region:     PAUL BIYA             –        45.93 %    ISSA TCHIROMA   –     42.34 %

5) LITTORAL Region:         ISSA TCHIROMA   –       64.59 %      PAUL BIYA              –      20.99 %

6) NORTH Region:           ISSA TCHIROMA   –         43.51 %     PAUL BIYA             –       38.78%

7) NORTHWEST Region:   PAUL BIYA           –           86.31 %    ISSA TCHIROMA    –       5.2 %

8) SOUTH Region:               PAUL BIYA            –         90. 86 %      ISSA TCHIROMA     –      6 %

9) SOUTHWEST Region:   PAUL BIYA             –          68.79 %        ISSA TCHIROMA    –       22.79 %

 10) WEST Region:             ISSA TCHIROMA      –         46.76 %        PAUL BIYA               –        38.61 %

It should however be noted that the official result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, is being strongly contested by Issa Tchiroma and his supporters. It would be recalled that less than 48 hours after polls closed in the October 12 presidential election, Issa Tchiroma declared himself the winner of the election, in violation of the text which states that only the Constitutional Council has the authority to officially declare the result of the presidential election. Meanwhile, the partial result of the election that was compiled by Issa Tchiroma’s team, show for example that he beat Biya in the Far North Region, winning four of the six Divisions. But the official result above, instead show that Biya edged Tchiroma in the Far North Region, where the camps of the two candidates faced a tough fight in the election.  (Readers will find Tchiroma’s detail result, Division by Division, in the Far North Region, down the road in this package).

The First Promise That Issa Tchiroma Bakary Made To His Supporters

“In the coming days, I will share with you a detailed report of your votes by regions, as compiled from the results publicly posted, in accordance with Article 113 of the Electoral Code, in polling stations across the country and in the diaspora. The results deeply moved me; they show that this victory goes beyond my person. It is a clear sanction of the regime in place, and a plebiscite in favour of immediate change, because the victory is overwhelming”. This is an excerpt of the declaration that Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the FSNC leader and candidate at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, made in the night of Monday October 13 breaking Tuesday, October 14, 2025, when he unilaterally declared that he had won the presidential election.  That is, he promised his supporters, a detailed report of votes by regions.  This of course gave the impression that Tchiroma and his team had the return reports commonly known in Cameroon as PVs, from all the polling stations in the October 12 presidential election. It should be noted that the Managing Director of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), Dr Essousse Erik, in a communiqué issued on October 9, 2025, that is, three days before the presidential election, disclosed that there were a total 31,653 polling stations for the election. 108 of these polling stations were in the diaspora, meaning that the total number of polling stations across Cameroon, or better still, in the 10 regions of the country for the October 12 presidential election, was 31,545. This meant that to have representatives or polling agents at all the polling stations in all the 10 regions of the country, a presidential candidate or his party, was supposed to deploy 31,545 polling agents. It also meant that to provide the detailed reports or results of votes by regions as Tchiroma promised, his team should have been in possession of the 31,545 PVs.

That promise was not respected by Tchiroma’s team. However a couple of days later, the Tchiroma team stated that they had decided to adopt another method to publish the result of the October 12 presidential election, which would clearly or indisputably show that their candidate won the election. They explained that they had selected a total of 18 Divisions across the country, and that the total number of registered voters in the 18 regions, constituted a total of 80 % of registered voters in the country which has a total of 58 Divisions. This, logically meant that if the candidate, who came first in the total number of votes cast in the 18 regions had a big lead from the second, it could be said without doubt that he was the winner of the election. This was with the understanding that from the result of the election in the 18 Divisions which has 80 % of voters, there was just no way that the second person could catch up with the first, in the result of the 20 % of voters left, that were in the other 40 Divisions.  So in a nutshell, what Issa Tchiroma’s team claimed that 80 % of registered voters for the October 12, 2025 presidential elections were in 18 Divisions, while, only 20 % of voters were in the remaining 40 Divisions of the country.

The 18 Divisions That Allegedly Have 80 % Of Voters

In presenting the 18 Divisions that were selected by the Issa Tchiroma team in some regions of the country, The Mentor News will cite the major town or towns in each Division, as well as the region, in a bid to enable readers to easily locate the Divisions. The 18 Divisions that were selected by the Issa Tchiroma team were as follows: 1) Wouri Division (Douala) in the Littoral Region. 2) Mungo Division (Nkongsanba, Loum, Mbanga) in the Littoral Division. 3) Mfoundi Division (Yaounde) in the Centre Region). 4) Lekie Division (Monatele, Sa’ar) in the Centre Region. 5) Lom and Djerem Division (Bertoua, Belabo, Garoua Boulai) in the East Region. 6) Mifi Division (Bafoussam) in the West Region. 7) Menoua Division (Dschang, Penka Michel, Santchou) in the West Region. 8) Noun Division (Foumban, Foumbot) in the West Region. 9) Vina Division (Ngaoundere) in the Adamawa Division. 10) Mayo Louti Division (Figuil, Guider) in the North Region. 11) Mayo Rey (Tcholire, Rey Bouba) in the North Region. 12) Benoue Division (Garoua) in the North Region. 13) Mayo Sava Division (Tokombere) in the Far North Region. 14) Mayo Tsanaga Division (Mokolo) in the Far North Region. 15) Logone and Chari Division (Kousseri, Waza, Fotokol, Maga) in the Far North Region. 16)  Diamare Division (Maroua) in the Far North Region). 17) Mayo Kani Division (Kaele) in the Far North Region. 18) Mayo Danay Division (Yagoua) in the Far North Region.

Mezam And Fako Divisions Were Normally Supposed To Feature In The List Of 18 Divisions. Perhaps – –  

From the look of things, the criteria that were used to select most of these Divisions were rather based on the fact that they were localities that could be favourable to Issa Tchiroma in terms of getting votes. If we were to look at statistics,  Mezam Division (Bamenda, Santa, Bali, Bafut, Tubah) in the Northwest Region, features among the first eight Divisions in the country, in terms of population as well as the number of registered voters.  In fact non of the eight Divisions in the neighbouring West Region for example, measures up to Mezam. Only Noun Division (Foumban, Foumbot) comes close. Also, as regard statistics, there is no justification to have left out Fako Division (Limbe, Tiko, Buea, Muyuka) in the Southwest Region, and brought in areas like Mifi Division (Bafoussam), Menoua Division (Dschang, Penka Michel, Santcho), Lekie  Division (Monatele, Sa’ar),  Lom and Djerem Division (Bertoua, Balabo, Garoua Boulai) and Mayo Sava Division (Tokombere) that feature on the list of 18 Divisions, because Fako is ahead of these Divisions.  Well, perhaps the Issa Tchiroma team left out Mezam and Fako Divisions because of the fact that there was no real election in these two Anglophone Divisions, because of the crisis, ghost towns, and so on.

MRC Strongholds In The Southern Part Of The Country

Talking about areas that were considered favourable  to Issa Tchiroma Bakary in the list of 18 Divisions, it should be noted that almost all the Divisions that the team selected in the Southern part of the country like Wouri Division (Douala), Mfoundi  Division (Yaounde), Menoua Division (Dschang) and Mifi  Division (Bafoussam),  are strongholds of Maurice Kamto’s MRC Party, which did not officially take part in the October 12, 2025 presidential election, because the Constitutional Council rejected his candidacy. Worthy of note that in the official result of the 2018 presidential election, Prof  Maurice Kamto won the Littoral Region thanks to Douala, as well as won in Menoua (Dschang) and Mifi (Bafoussam) Divisions. He complained that he was robbed of his victory in Mfoundi (Yaounde). It should be noted that MRC officials and militants, though as individuals, were heavily involved in Issa Tchiroma’s campaign for the October 12 presidential election in the Southern part of the country, and contributed much to his apparent good performance in these MRC strongholds – Wouri, Mungo, Menoua, Mifi  and Mfoundi Divisions.

‘Results’ Of The October 12 Presidential Election As Compiled By Issa Tchiroma’s Team

“RESULTATS COMPILES DE E’ELECTION PRESIDENTIELLE DU 12 OCTOBRE 2025”, that is “THE COMPILED RESULTS OF THE 12 OCTOBER, 2025 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION”. So reads the headline of the ‘compiled result’ of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, that was done by the Issa Tchiroma team on the letter headed paper of Tchiroma’s party, FSNC.  The ‘result’ is Issa Tchiroma’s evidence, to defend his claim that he is the real winner of the October 12, 2025 presidential election. It should however be noted, once more, that according to the Electoral Law of Cameroon, only the Constitutional Council has the authority to declare or proclaim the result of the presidential election.

In a bid to avoid being an accomplice in breaching the Electoral Law, The Mentor News would avoid getting into the details of the result of the October 12 presidential election Division by Division result, as compiled by the Issa Tchiroma team, for the 18 Divisions they selected. However, according to the statistics of the Issa Tchiroma team, there was a total of 4,455,945 (Four million, four hundred and fifty five thousand, nine hundred and forty five) registered voters in the 18 Divisions, at the October 12 presidential election. According to the team, the total number of votes cast at the October 12 presidential election in the 18 Divisions, was 2,227,093 (Two million, two hundred and seventy seven thousand, and ninety three) votes, with a very high abstention figure of 2,178,852 (Two million, one hundred and seventy eight thousand, eight hundred and fifty two) registered voters. Still according to statistics on the result that was put up by Issa Tchiroma’s team, there were a total of 35,325 blank votes, leaving the total number of valid votes at 2,241,768 (Two million two hundred  and forty one thousand, seven hundred and sixty eight) votes.

 Issa Tchiroma’s Own “Election Result’ In The 18 Divisions, Gives Him A ‘Win’ – 54.75%

At the end of the detail result Division by Division as regard the 18 selected Divisions, the statistics of the   Issa Tchiroma team  show that Tchiroma received a total  1,227,271 (One million, two hundred and twenty seven thousand, two hundred and seventy one) votes, which according to their calculation, gives  their candidate a score of 54.784 %. Still according to the statistics, incumbent Paul Biya, received a total of 700,690 (Seven hundred thousand, six hundred and ninety) votes, which gives him a score of 31.255 %.  It should be noted that the detail results of the other 10 presidential candidates in the 18 Divisions, was not presented by the Issa Tchroma team. Rather, the Tchiroma team presented some arithmetic that gave the total number of votes they claimed the 10 candidates had in the 10 Divisions. “Autres candidats (10 restants): 2,241,768 – (1,227,271 + 700,690) = 313, 807 voixs”. So according to the Issa Tchiroma’s team, the other 10 presidential candidates received a total of 313,807 (Three hundred and thirteen thousand, eight hundred and seven votes).

The Issa Tchiroma team said calculating the percentage of votes received by their candidate, as well as by Paul Biya, and the rest of the 10 candidates lumped together, stands as follows: Issa Tchiroma Bakary: 54.75 %. Paul Biya: 31.26 %. Other candidates: 13.99%.  “Sur l’echantillon de 18 departements representant 80% du corps electoral national, le candidat Issa Tchiroma arrive nettement en tete vec environ 54.75 % des suffrages valablement exprimes, contre 31.26% pour Paul Biya”. According to the Issa Tchiroma team, from the validated votes, that were registered in the 18 Divisions, which according to them represents or constitutes 80 % of the national electorate, Issa Tchiroma clearly comes at the top with about 54.75 % of the valid votes, against 31.26 % for Paul Biya.

Meanwhile looking at the details of Tchiroma’s own result in the 18 selected Divisions, it comes out clear that his alleged victory is thanks above all to Wouri Division (Douala), where his own statistics show that he allegedly beat Biya with over 300,000 votes.

The Battle For The Far North Region – Tchiroma’s Own Result

Issa Tchiroma’s statistics also show that he allegedly beat incumbent Paul Biya, in the Far North Region, which was considered by both the Tchiroma and Biya camps, as well as by political observers, as the main battle ground between Biya and Tchiroma, in the October 12, 2025presidential election. The six Divisions of the Far North Region are: Diamare (Maroua),  Logone and Chari (Kousseri, Waza), Mayo Danay (Yagoua),  Mayo Kani (Kaele), Mayo Sava (Tokombere), and Mayo Tsanaga (Mokolo) Divisions.

It is claimed in Tchiroma’s own result, that Tchiroma beat Biya in Diamare Division (Maroua) by 50.338% to 40.090 %, while Biya beat Tchiroma in Cavaye Yeguie Djibril’s Mayo Sava Division (Tokombere) by 64.038 % to 24.868 %. Still according to the result, Tchiroma also beat Biya in Mayo Danay (Yagoua) of the famous Catholic Bishop by 47.734 % to 40.915 %, while Biya beat Tchiroma in Logone and Chari (Kousseri) by 53.647 % to 38.302 %.  In the other two Divisions, Tchiroma’s owned result shows that he beat Biya in Mayo Tsanaga (Mokolo) by 46.743 % to 32. 663 %, and that Tchiroma beat Biya in Mayo Kani (Kaele), by 43.237 % to 41.096 %. So according to Issa Tchiroma’s own result, he beat Biya in four of the six Divisions  of the Far North, that is Diamare (Maroua), Mayo Tsanaga (Mokolo), Mayo Kani (Kaele), and Mayo Danay (Yagoua), while Paul Biya won Mayo Sava and Logone and Chari Divisions.  However as aforementioned, the official result that was proclaimed on Monday, October 27, says a different thing.

The Main Controversy In Issa Tchiroma’s Own Result Of The October 12 Presidential Election   

The Mentor News has no comment to make on the figures or statistics presented by Issa Tchiroma and his team, as the scores he recorded in the 18 selected Divisions, as well as what they say Paul Biya received in terms of votes. We are not in the position to ascertain on the one hand, or to question on the other hand, the statistics. But The Mentor News finds controversial or disputable the claim by Issa Tchiroma and his team, that the number of registered voters for the October 12, 2025 presidential election, in the 18 selected Divisions, constituted as much as 80 % of the registered voters for the election. That is simply not true. This issue thus raises questions about the credibility of the declaration or claim by Issa Tchiroma Bakary, that, he won the October 12 presidential election, based on the claim that the electorates in the 18 Divisions makeup 80 % of the national electorates. The Mentor News is not saying that Issa Tchiroma has in reality not won the election. What we are saying, is that the claim by the Issa Tchiroma team that the number of registered voters in the 18 selected Divisions, at the October 12 presidential election constituted 80 % of the registered voters in the country, or that registered voters in the other 40 Divisions of the country constituted only 20 % of the national electorates, is not true.

It would be recalled that the Managing Director of ELECAM, Dr Essousse Erik, in the communiqué he issued on October 9, 2025, that is, three days before the October 12 presidential election, clearly stated that the total number of registered voters for the election in the country and the diaspora, stood at 8,010,464 (Eight million, ten thousand, four hundred and sixty four) registered voters. This was a significant increase from the number at the 2018 presidential election, which was a total of 6,667,754 (Six million, six hundred and sixty seven thousand, seven hundred and fifty four) registered voters. Meanwhile according to the statistics contained in the release that the Managing Director of ELECAM, Dr Essousse Erik, issued on October 9, 2025, the total of 8, 010, 464 registered voters for the October 12 presidential election, was comprised of 3,716,567 women, and 4,293,897 men.  Also, the total number of registered voters in the diaspora stood at 34,411. Now, if we subtract the number of registered voters in the diaspora which was 34,411, from the total number of registered voters at home and abroad which stood at 8, 010,464, it will give us the total number of registered voters across the country, or in the 10 regions, at the October 12 presidential election, which was 7, 976, 053 (Seven million, nine hundred and seventy six thousand, and fifty three) registered voters.

Number Of Voters In The 18 Divisions, Do Not Constitute 80 % Of Registered Voters

According to the statistics in Issa Tchiroma’s own result for the October 12, 2025 presidential election, the total number of registered voters in their 18 selected Divisions for the presidential election, was 4,455,945 (Four million, four hundred and fifty five thousand, nine hundred and forty five). If we subtract this figure (4,455,945) from the total of 7,976,053 of registered voters in the country for the October 12 presidential election, it shows that there was a total of 3,520, 008 (Three million, five hundred and twenty thousand, and eight) registered voters in the rest of the 40 Divisions across the country, that were not included in the list of the 18 Divisions selected by the Issa Tchiroma team. If we look closely, we will see that the total number of registered voters in the 18 Divisions for the October 12, 2025 presidential election was, not above 60 % of the registered voters, not to talk of 80 % as the claim. You cannot deceive even a nursery school child, that 4,455,945 is 80% of 7,976,053.

It should be noted that in the statistics displayed by the Issa Tchiroma team in the compiled result of the October 12 presidential election, no mention is made of the total number of registered voters in the country for the election.  So it is not known how they came about the 80 % that they talk about. Tchiroma the other day called on the international community, including the United Nations and the European Union, not to stay silent as regard the post –election crisis in Cameroon.  He claimed he won the October 12 presidential election. But then to bring the international community to your side in any dispute over election result, you have to provide clean, concrete or incontrovertible evidences, that you actually won the election.

Meanwhile, if we look at the rest of the 40 Divisions that share the total of 3,520,008 registered voters in the country, a majority of them like the eight other Divisions in the Centre Region, the whole of South Region, or the other two Divisions in the Littoral Region (Sanaga Maritime and Nkam Divisions) which are Bassa zones,  and so on, most of them are in reality not places that could have been favourable to Issa Tchiroma Bakary, at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, no matter what his fanatical supporters  say.  The Mentor News is talking here about facts, void of sentiments.

The Tchiroma Team Needs To Rectify The Error, Or Explain How They Came About The 80 %

When a candidate in an election has to call on his supporters to defend an alleged victory, the first thing he has to do is to give them the facts, so that when they are fighting, they should know the truth of what they are fighting to defend. That is, there is supposed to be precision in the result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, which Tchiroma claims he won. If the Issa Tchiroma team had put out the entire result of the October 12 presidential election, that is, a compilation of the results from the 31,653 polling stations in the presidential election, the issue would have been clear. This disputed story, that the number of registered voters in 18 of the 58 Divisions of Cameroon, constitute 80 % of the national electorates, would not have come up, for us to start hearing words like extrapolation and all what not. The Issa Tchiroma team has not directly admitted that they had problems having all the PVs, because they did not have polling agents in quite a number of polling stations, especially in the Southern part of the country, including Douala. Reporters in the course of the voting day observed that Tchiroma did not have representatives in all polling stations in Douala. In fact the case of Douala, it was surprising to many observers.

One of Issa Tchiroma’s lawyers (a French national), in a political debate programme that was focused on Cameroon over a TV channel in Paris, France on Friday, October 25, 2025, that had as moderator a renowned Cameroonian born journalist, Alain Foka, said it was not possible for his client (Tchiroma) to have polling agents in all the polling stations across Cameroon, allegedly because of the means. He said Tchiroma and his party did not have the same means like Paul Biya and his CPDM Party that uses State resources. The lawyer said it was for that reason that, his client (Issa Tchiroma) and his party (FSNC), decided to focus on the 18 selected Divisions. However from reports that have appeared on some social media platforms in the last few days, Tchiroma allegedly disbursed the total sum of 350 million francs CFA, for surveillance of the polls, which included recruiting polling agents especially in the Southern part of the country, where his party is not yet well implanted. But apparently some of the several ‘fighters for change” that suddenly started running around Tchiroma, were in fact targeting money, and when something entered their hands to carry out some missions, they resorted to playing games. This is however a story that is still gradually surfacing and we are monitoring it.  Kamto’s MRC seems interested in the allegation, because some of the party’s officials that jumped to support Tchiroma, though as individuals, are seemingly incriminated in the scandal. From the look of things, it would appear that when Issa Tchiroma soon after the election promised that he would present the reports on the results from the polling  stations, region by region, he though they would be able to have a bulk of the PVs in all  the regions, considering the disbursement he made for that purpose. But seemingly, some people disappointed him.

 CPDM Party And Gov’t To Use The Controversial Issue of 80 % Against Tchiroma

 

There is doubt that after the proclamation of the official result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election by the Constitutional Council yesterday, the ruling CPDM Party and Government, or better still the Biya regime, would use the issue of the percentage of registered voters in the 18 selected Divisions at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, against Issa Tchiroma and his team. The issue came up during the aforementioned political debate programme on a TV channel in Paris, France last Friday. Two of Issa Tchiroma’s lawyers, that is, a French man and Senegalese lady, as well as a Franco – Cameroonian writer, Marie –Roger Biloa, tried to insist that the number of registered voters in the 18 Divisions that were selected by the Issa Tchiroma team, constituted 80 % of the national electorates at the election.  They argued that the results from polling stations in the 18 Divisions, could give a fair view of the candidate that won the election, who to then, was of course, Tchiroma.  But the lone representative of the CPDM in the panel discussion, pushed back on that point so strongly, using the statistics that were put out by the Issa Tchiroma team. He pointed that while there were some 8 million registered persons in Cameroon for the October 12 presidential election, only some 4.4 million of them were in the 18 Divisions, which was far below 80 % of the registered voters. He said there were over 3.5 million registered voters in the other 40 Divisions.

From the look of things, Tchiroma’s two lawyers in the political debate programme, who initially were talking so much about 80 % of registered voters in the 18 Divisions of the country, did not know the total number of registered voters in Cameroon at the October 12 presidential election. And so they looked rather confused, when the CPDM representative put the total number of registered at some 8 million, and argued that the claim by their client that 80 % of registered voters were in the 18 Divisions, was spurious.  From observation back in the country, Tchiroma’s supporters, talk only of how their candidate or President said the number of registered voters in the 18 Divisions, make up 80 % of voters in the country.  Non of them, including the intellectuals, seem to have tried to check the veracity of the claim that the number of voters in the 18 selected Divisions, make up 80 % of registered voters in country. We hear historians talk of the doctrine of Papal’s infallibility, that at one time existed in the Catholic Church. It is unfortunate that fanatical supporters, including some intellectuals, would just accept what a politician says, without any reflection on whether what he says is true or false.

High Abstention Rate Again – High Voter Apathy Persists.   

      

Cameroonians have a problem with going to the polls to the cast their ballots. People talk so much about change. They flood the campaign grounds for rallies, but when it comes to the time to go and vote, many do not. High voter apathy persists. And that is why many political observers in Cameroon have always argued, and rightly too, that the heavy turnouts at campaign rallies, do not reflect votes that are cast. Many of those that turnout at campaign rallies in towns, more to have fun, do not have voter’s cards, while many of those who have voter’s cards, do not go out to vote. The situation is worse in Cameroon’s two biggest cities, that is, Douala and Yaounde.  It has been like this over the years.  At the 2018 presidential election for example, there was a total of 6, 667, 754 (Six million, six hundred and sixty seven thousand, seven hundred and fifty four) registered voters in the country and the diaspora, but only a total of 3,590,681 (Three million, five hundred and ninety thousand, six hundred and eighty one) of the registered voters, actually voted, which gave a participation rate of 53.85 %.

A couple of months before the October 12, 2025 presidential elections, some political parties like Cabral Libii’s PCRN and Joshua Osih’s SDF, repeatedly cried out that high voters’ abstention rate is the biggest enemy of the Cameroon opposition at presidential elections. But many people did not seem to worry. The intensive voters’ registration campaign for the 2025 presidential election which went on for about two years, thanks to Maurice Kamto’s MRC in particular, and some civil society groups, let to a significant increase in the total number of registered voters for the October 12, 2025 presidential election. The number of registered voters increased from the 6,667,754 at the October 7, 2018 presidential election, to a total of 8,010, 464 (Eight million and ten thousand, four hundred and sixty four) registered voters at the October 12, 2025 presidential election. But the worry of observers had been that the big increase in the number of registered voters, might also lead to a big increase in the number of abstention cases.

When the several teams that were engaged in the voters’ registration campaign in towns like Douala and Yaounde for example, saw that the messages they were sending out were still not pushing many people that had not yet registered, to go and register, they discussed with ELECAM, for ELECAM teams to go with them to field, to register voters there. So the voters’ registration campaign teams and ELECAM teams moved from quarter to quarter, and even visited some Churches, to register people at the end of the Church service. But the question was whether when somebody has to be followed right to his quarter or to Church before he registers, that same person will willing go and vote, or even go and collect his voter’s card at the ELECAM office.   As The Mentor News reported a day before the October 12 presidential elections, tons of uncollected voter’s cards were lying at ELECAM’s Offices across the country. Issa Tchiroma even raised the issue at some of his campaign rallies, like the one he had in Yagoua, where he launched his official campaign in the Grand North.

Meanwhile, during vote counting exercise after voting ended at polling stations across Douala in the evening of October 12, 2025, reporters observed that there was again a high abstention rate.  According to the statistics in the compiled results from polling stations by the Issa Tchiroma team  in the 18 Divisions,  that they selected in some regions of the country, out of the total of 4,455, 945  registered voters in the 18 Divisions, only 2,277,093 of them voted. As many as 2, 178, 852 of the registered voters in the 18 Divisions, did not vote. That is, close to 50 % abstention. It should be noted that there is no Division in the Anglophone Regions in the group of 18, and so nobody can attribute the very high abstention to ghost town or insecurity. The official result of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, that was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council in Yaounde on October 27, 2025, confirmed the high abstention rate in the election. The abstention rate (official) for the October 12, 2025 presidential election in Cameroon, was as high as 42.24%, even as the same Cameroonians were clamoring for change.