Benin: Calm reigns as voters express optimism in upcoming presidential poll

Voters in Benin have hailed the ongoing political campaign despite delays observed in the distribution of voter cards in some departments.

“This is the maturity of the people. The current atmosphere, current events show how people have matured. If you look around you will see that the posters of candidates are placed closed to each other without any being removed. It is true that there have been a few exceptions where over excited guys engaged in removing posters. But this is insignificant,” a voter said.

Close to 4.7 million people are expected to vote in Sunday’s polls as several candidates battle to succeed Boni Yayi who is prevented from vying for a third term by the constitution.

The election had been programmed for February 28 but was postponed for a week due to delays in the distribution of voters cards.

However, civil society organisations are worried that many people will be forced to vote with their old cards.