New Delhi, July 30 -- Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said Tuesday that he would seek a fourth term leading the West African nation, which is due to hold an election in October.

Ouattara's candidacy is contested after he changed the constitution in 2016 to remove the presidential term limit.

The 83-year-old president declared his plan in a televised announcement. He won a third term in 2020 after he initially said that he wasn't going to run again. However, he changed his position following the death of his handpicked successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

"I am a candidate, because the constitution allows me to seek another term, and my health allows it," Ouattara said.

His most prominent rival, Tidjane Thiam, has al...