Wadagni won more than 94% of the vote, according to provisional results announced on Monday by the country\u2019s independent electoral commission.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking on national television, Electoral Commission Head Sacca Lafia said the outcome was based on more than 90% of ballots counted, giving Wadagni an insurmountable lead. Voter turnout stood at about 58.8%, according to the commission.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Opposition candidate Paul Hounkp\u00e8 of the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin party conceded defeat last night. In a televised statement carried by local broadcasters, he offered congratulations to Wadagni and called for unity. \u201cDemocracy requires mutual respect and the ability to rise above partisan divides,\u201d Hounkp\u00e8 said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wadagni was backed by the governing coalition and endorsed by outgoing President Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after completing two five\u2011year terms. Hounkp\u00e8 was the only opponent on the ballot after the Democrats\u2019 Presidential hopeful failed to secure the minimum number of endorsements from elected officials required to stand, under Benin\u2019s electoral rules.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Home to around 15 million people, Benin remains one of West Africa\u2019s more stable democracies at a time when parts of the region have experienced repeated military takeovers. The new administration will be judged on whether it can preserve stability while addressing inequality and restoring security, particularly in vulnerable border areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31818,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31817","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Benin's Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni has secured a decisive victory in the Presidential election held on April 12. \r\n","published_date":"","news_description":"Benin's Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni has secured a decisive victory in the Presidential election held on April 12. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31819,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31817\/revisions\/31819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}