Polls close in Equatorial Guinea as Nguema seeks to extend his term

Voting in Equatorial Guinea went ahead peacefully and without incident on Sunday. Now citizens are awaiting the results, which according to the government will be made public on April 28

“First, the elections were held today. Tomorrow we will count the votes in the districts and during the week, I think that within three or four days we will publish the final results and in addition a candidate who has been elected will be proclaimed by the Constitutional Court,” Clemente Nguema Engonga Onguen, Minister of Interior and Local Government.

Africa's longest-serving leader Obiang set to extend 36-year rule; with his usual over 90% election victoryhttps://t.co/L847HWZLax

— Charles Onyango-Obbo (@cobbo3) April 24, 2016

For its part, the Economic Community of Central African States, welcomed the smooth conduct of the elections and voter turnout.

The head of state Teodoro Obiang Nguema, in power since 1979, is facing six candidates .

On March 23 , the Front of the Democratic Opposition (FOD), a coalition of the main opposition parties had called for a boycott of the polls, citing electoral fraud.

Obiang is Africa’s longest-serving leader, although a constitutional referendum adopted in 2011 limited presidents to two seven-year terms.

AFP