Nigeria, Jan. 28 -- When Cameroon's Constitutional Council announced on 27 October 2025 that 92-year-old President Paul Biya had won an eighth term, simmering tensions in the country boiled over - their effects spilling beyond the country's borders.

Public frustration was growing ahead of the 12 October polls. Civil society groups and the youth openly doubted whether the political system built around Mr Biya and his ruling party would ever permit a genuine change of power. Yet millions voted, reflecting a hope that elections could make a difference.

But immediately after the Constitutional Council awarded Mr Biya 53.66 per cent of the vote, leading opposition candidate Issa Bakary rejected the outcome, alleging fraud and irregularities....