Sunday's vote: Needless controversies over result trends.

Perhaps, it is against such prosaic information in data collection that the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, at a press conference in Yaounde last Friday, proscribed the announcement of election trend results.

Reiterating that only the Constitutional Council is authorised to proclaim the results, he warned that no violation of the rule would be tolerated. Minister Atanga Nji divulged that he was informed of the existence of platforms intended to announce the results before the scheduled date in a fortnight.

He was clear and unequivocal against promoters of such platforms claiming to count and release the results as "irresponsible, dangerous, and criminal" practices. 

But his claims have been challenged by Prof Aba'a Oyono, who in a social media post, said the minister's injection was a violation of Article 113 of the Electoral Code.

Law No. 2012/001 of April 19, 2012, establishing the Electoral Code stipulates in Article 113, under title III, which handles provisions common to the election of the President of the Republic, Members of Parliament, and Municipal Councillors, and to the Referendum, that: "Once counting is over, the results obtained in each polling station shall be proclaimed".

Article 11 of the same law also empowers that: "The results of the poll shall forthwith be entered into a report. Such report, which shall be decided upon by the Local Polling Commission and shall be recorded in the report”.

However, since voters do not have access to all the polling stations, they cannot give the complete results.

Since all contestants are by law required to have their representatives in all polling stations, and given the penetration of the internet in the country, it is possible for each of the candidates to have individual results of all polling stations, compile them and publish the trend, which is different from the "proclamation" of the results assigned to the prerogative of the Constitutional Council.

Publishing results of presidential election is common in all democracies. France, United States, Nigeria and Senegal etc do it. 

In the case of Senegal, with some democratic parallels like Cameroon, its Presidential election of March 2024, was done on a Sunday and the next day, Monday, even before counting was completed, the candidate of the ruling party congratulated the winner. He didn't wait for the official proclamation of results.

Given that results are published at each polling station in Cameroon, isn't it possible for the unofficial results to be known before the long two weeks of tension the Constitutional Council will take?

Did the Territorial Administration Minister not inadvertently reveal the potential "winner" when he said a candidate with presence in some "30 constituencies" should not expect to win the one in" in 360 municipalities"? 

When he said no one can doubt the results in a "match between Coton Sport of Garoua and Real Madrid in Spain", was the parable not giving victory to the CPDM candidate, interpreted by many to be Real Madrid?

"But I can tell you, District by District, who campaigned where. I have the electoral map. I wasn't the one who said that Cameroon has the stupidest opposition in the world...," Atanga Nji had boasted. 

Its open knowledge that only the CPDM candidate has inroads in all council areas, many of which are in rural areas with few voters. But with the availability of the internet, which was one of the main campaign tools used by all the candidates, many do not need to make their physical presence for campaigns, which is what happened with Candidate Biya climbing the soapbox only in Maroua, while others crisscrossed the country.

Minister Atanga Nji admitted at the press conference that he is a staunch member of the ruling party. He was actively campaigning for President Biya in Mezam. No surprise as he gave a jab at Tchiroma "holed" in his house, but without calling him by name. It is a tone of invective, that the opposition candidate cannot win.

The star question of the evening came from Rodrigue Tongué of Canal II International: "Are you talking about Tchiroma without being able to take responsibility for it, out of fear? To conclude, why organise elections that cost hundreds of billions, when you, minister, already know the winner?".

Paul Atanga Nji responded: "I didn't talk about a candidate who is holed up in his residence. I said ‘a candidate who will hole up,’ without mentioning the location".

"...I never mentioned anyone's name. I give indications. I use metaphors a lot, caricatures a lot, and everyone can relate to what I say. I work without qualms. I have no friends. I'm talking about a candidate who mentioned his ties with terrorists.

"He said he would end his campaign in his home Region, and that it was from there that he would proclaim himself the winner".

Tchiroma, unquestionably Biya's leading challenger, had announced he will end his campaign in Garoua, his fief, to celebrate his victory, which of course is the imaginary expectation of all contestants.

It emerged from the conference that the winner, out of the 10 contestants in yesterday's poll, will be President Biya or his former Communication minister, Issa Tchiroma.

What is, however, certain is that polling station results shall be announced on the spot. That's the law, and each candidate can use it to compile their results, which could be leaked, while waiting for the official proclamation from the Constitutional Council.

If we are in a State of law and abide by the law, there is no offend in giving out result trends to begin the celebration, before the official celebration, which is what "transparent" elections that build trust and peace are all about. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3593 of Monday October 13, 2025