“Yes, I Promised That The Military Will Hand Back Power To Civilian Rule In Gabon Within Two Years. But – – -“, General Oligue Nguema

But I did not say that I will not be a candidate in the presidential election to return the country to civilian rule”

“I am now a civilian. I am no longer a soldier. So what then is the problem with my candidacy?”

 The President of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions in Gabon, Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligue Nguema, has been facing criticisms at home and abroad since last month when he declared his candidacy for the April 12, 2025 presidential election, meant to return the country to civilian rule. It should be noted that General Oligue Nguema, who was the Commander of the Republic Guard in Gabon (Presidential Guard in Cameroon), came to power following a bloodless coup d’etat that took place in Gabon on August 30, 2023.

Some Gabonese like the opposition strongman, Prof Albert Ondo Ossa, insists that it was palace coup and not a coup d’etat, considering that General Oligue Nguema is the cousin of President Ali ben Bongo Ondimba that he ousted in the coup. It was even that cousin, President Ali Bongo that appointed General Oligue Nguema, to command the Republican Guard, which was known to be the best equip and most powerful security unit in Gabon, which its main mission being to protect the Presidency as well as the President and his family.

Meanwhile upon taking over power in Gabon, General Oligue Nguema promised the Gabonese people, that the country would be cleaned up, and a free, fair and transparent presidential election organized to return to country to civilian rule within two years.  But many Gabonese, especially politicians, were taken aback when General Oligue Nguema, last month announced his candidature for the April 12, 2025 presidential election, meant to return the country to a civilian rule. For one thing, besides being of the military, General Oligue Nguema is the President of the Transitional Government in Gabon. It is not normal in democracy, for the President of a transitional government, to be a candidate in the presidential election.

Interview Jointly Conducted By France 24 And RFI

As expected, when France 24 Tv and Radio France Internationale, RFI, conducted a joint interview with the President of the Transitional Government in Gabon, General Oligue Nguema, at the Presidential Palace in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, the first question they posed had to do with the controversy over his candidacy in  the April 12, 2025 Presidential Election in the country. In the interview that France 24 aired in the evening of Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the President of the transitional government in Gabon, General Oligue Nguema, was reminded that when he ousted President Ali Bongo in a coup d’etat on August 30, 2025, he promised the Gabonese people that the country would return to civilian rule within two years. The journalists of France 24 and RFI questioned what has become of the promise to return the country to civilian rule, now that General Oligue Nguema himself is surprisingly a candidate for the April 12 presidential election.

In response, General Oligue Nguema admitted that he made a promise to the Gabonese people that the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions in Gabon would organize a free, fair and transparent presidential election based on a new Constitution of the country, and return, the county to civil rule within 2 years. “But I did not tell the Gabonese people that I would not be a candidate in the election”, General Oligue Nguema said. When the French journalists stared at him, looking rather confused on what the General meant, he said: “I am speaking French. The fact is that I am now a civilian. I am no longer a soldier”. He then questioned what was wrong with his candidacy for the April 12 presidential election, considering that he is now a civilian. That Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligue Nguema, is now a civilian!   It would be recalled that when General Oligue Nguema, last month declared his candidacy for the April 12 presidential election, at a grand rally in Libreville where he appeared in a suit, the opposition in Gabon mockingly questioned whether for the military to return the country to civilian rule, simply means removing the military attire and putting on a suit (a civilian attire).

Meanwhile the French journalists unfortunately did not question General Oligue Nguema, as to whether it is normal in democracy for the President of the Government of Transition in a country, to be a candidate in the presidential election to be organized by the government, to return the country to civilian rule.

 The Candidacies Of Big Political Figures In Gabon, Rejected

The French journalists however raised the controversial issue, that all big political figures in Gabon that sent in their files to be candidates at the April 12 presidential election all saw their files scandalously rejected by the Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court.  The French journalists pointed out that the only serious challenger to General Oligue Nguema, in the April 12 presidential election in Gabon, is the former Prime Minister, Alain Claude Billie – By – Ndze, and that the other six candidates are considered as lightweights. The journalists of  the two French media organs,  said from the look of things, all appears to have been arranged to ensure that General Oligue Nguema have an easy win in the first round of  the presidential election, and thus avoid a second round of the election. They pointed out that this is the view that many politicians in Gabon hold. They said that the politicians argue that it is for this reason that the organizers of the April 12 presidential election, have done everything to ensure that all big political parties or big political figures in Gabon, are blocked from participating in the election.

General Oligue Nguma Says He Is Not To Blame

In his response, General Oligue Nguema, did not have much to say.  He rather argued that he is not to be blamed, and the Constitution of the country is above the interest of politicians and political parties, and must be respected by all. General Oligue Nguema cited the case of Prof Albert Ondo Ossa, who was considered as the main opposition leader in Gabon during the era of President Ali Bongo.  It would be recalled that Prof Ondo Ossa, was the candidate of the opposition collation that claimed victory in the August 25, 2023 presidential election in Gabon. Even after the military took over power on August 30, 2023, the opposition strongman, Prof Ondo Ossa, kept insisting that the military should hand over power to him, and that he was voted by the Gabonese people.

The President of the Transitional Government, General Oligue Nguema, said it was the new Constitution that was adopted last year in a referendum, by the Gabonese people that has blocked the candidacy of Ondo Ossa, and not him. He pointed out that the new Constitution of Gabon fixes the maximum age limit for a Gabonese to be a presidential candidate at 70.  He noted that Prof Ondo Ossa is above 70 years, and thus ought to have known that he can no longer be a presidential candidate in Gabon.