Gabonese voters began casting ballots on Saturday in a presidential election with eight candidates that is widely expected to make junta chief Brice Oligui Nguema the oil-rich central African country's first elected leader since his 2023 coup.
Oligui, the general who led the August 30, 2023, putsch that ended 55 years of iron-fisted dynastic rule by the Bongo family, who were accused of looting Gabon's wealth, has been leading in opinion polls.
