LOME, (Reuters) – Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe won re-election to a third term based on provisional results with more than 1.2 million votes or 58.75 percent of the total, the West African country’s election commission head said yesterday.
His nearest rival was opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre with 34.95 percent of the vote, the provisional results showed.
“In light of these results, the election commission deems that Faure Gnassingbe won the election provided that they are confirmed by the constitutional court,” commission head Issoufou Taffa Tabiouon said on state television.
Gnassingbe was widely tipped to win the Saturday vote, and early results suggested he had secured a comfortable margin. If confirmed, the results will extend the grip of Gnassingbe’s family on the country beyond 50 years.
But Togo’s opposition complained of widespread irregularities and called for the announcement of results to be halted.
A mediation team led by John Dramani Mahama, Ghana’s president and current head of the West African ECOWAS bloc, arrived in Togo yesterday.
