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Benin’s current finance minister, Romuald Wadagni, has cast his vote at the Centre de Vote Agonvè à Lokossa. Wadagni, widely referred to as President Patrice Talon’s anointed, cast his vote around 9 am on Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Some residents in Porto-Novo said on Friday, the last day of voting, that 49-year-old Wadagni, the Union Progressiste-Le Renouveau (UP-R) party candidate, is likely to secure an easy victory.
Wadagni has overseen Benin’s public finances since 2016. He has overseen fiscal reforms, revenue mobilisation, and public debt management. He is also expected to continue Talon’s economic policies if he coasts to victory.
He is up against 56-year-old Paul Hounkpè, an opposition figure of the Cowry Forces for an Emerging Benin. Wadagni’s running mate is the country’s Vice President Mariam Chabi Talata.
If Wadagni wins, he will succeed Talon, who has been in office since 2016. However, to emerge as the winner, he must be elected through direct universal suffrage in accordance with electoral laws and serve a seven-year term. The term is renewable once in the next electoral cycle, meaning he can serve a maximum of two terms, spanning fourteen years in office.
The election, which is organised by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission of Benin(CENA), is expected to end at 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday, with provisional results due within 48 hours.
