France, April 13 -- Gabon's junta chief Brice Oligui Nguema has romped his way to victory in the first presidential election since he took power in a 2023 coup, with provisional results giving him more than 90 percent of the vote.

Nguema, who ended more than five decades of corruption-plagued rule by the Bongo family in August 2023, won 90.35 percent of the vote, Gabon's Interior Minister Hermann Immongault announced Sunday, with 90 percent of votes counted.

Nguema's main rival, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, obtained 3.02 percent and the six other candidates no more than 1 percent each.

Turnout in Saturday's poll was 70.4 percent, lower than the 87 percent announced shortly after polls closed.

Immongault said the lower figure was due to ...