Benin’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENA) announced on Tuesday evening, January 27, 2026, the final results of the municipal elections held on January 7 in the city of Cotonou, confirming a total victory for the parties aligned with the ruling authorities across the country.
As widely expected, the two parties supporting the government—the Progressive Union for Renewal (UP-R) and the Republican Bloc—secured all 1,815 municipal council seats nationwide, leaving no representation for opposition forces in local councils.
According to the official results, the Progressive Union for Renewal, led by Joseph Djogbénou, won 963 seats, while the Republican Bloc, headed by Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, captured 852 seats. This distribution reflects roughly 49% of the vote for the UP-R and just under 45% for the Republican Bloc.
By contrast, the Forces Cauris for an Emerging Benin (FCBE), the main moderate opposition party authorized to participate in the elections, failed to win any seats after securing less than 7% of the vote—an insufficient share to gain municipal representation.
Voter turnout in the local elections was low, at under 37% of registered voters, a figure widely described as weak and indicative of public disengagement from the municipal process. As in the newly elected parliament, the two ruling parties shared all municipal seats, excluding the opposition entirely.
Meanwhile, the Democrats Party, the country’s main opposition force, will be absent from municipal councils for the next seven years after CENA rejected its candidate lists for failing to meet the required legal conditions. Any appeals related to the elections fall under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
CENA took nearly 20 days after polling day to announce the final results, without its president, Sacca Lafia, providing an official explanation for the delay.
These municipal elections form part of Benin’s broader 2026 electoral calendar, which will culminate in the presidential election scheduled for April 12. That vote will mark the departure of President Patrice Talon at the end of his second and final term in office, in accordance with the constitution.