LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Supporters of Gabon’s President Ali Bongo and his chief rival both said on Sunday they were set to win a presidential election that poses the most serious challenge yet to the Bongo family’s half-century rule in the tiny, oil-rich nation.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba votes during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Gerauds Wilfried Obangome

Backers of the president and his main challenger, Jean Ping, also traded accusations of fraud allegedly committed during Saturday’s vote, raising the prospect of increased tension in the wake of an uncharacteristically bitter campaign.

At a large gathering of supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital, Ping, 73, distributed figures showing him handily beating Bongo.

“The general trends indicate we’re the winner of this important presidential election,” Ping told backers and reporters. “Despite numerous irregularities ... you have managed to thwart this regime’s congenital traps of fraud.”

Interior Minister Pacôme Moubelet-Boubeya, who had already warned candidates that giving results before the official declaration was against the law, condemned Ping’s announcement.

“The candidate Jean Ping has just carried out an attempt to manipulate the democratic process,” he said in a statement distributed late on Sunday.

Official results are expected on Tuesday.

Bongo, 57, who first won election after his father Omar died in 2009 after 42 years in office, has benefited from being the incumbent in a country with a patronage system lubricated by oil largesse.

Gabon’s one-round election means the winner simply requires more votes than any other candidate. In 2009, Bongo won with 41.73 percent of the vote.

Addressing Ping’s declaration, Bongo warned his rival against pre-empting the result by claiming victory before an official announcement.

“You must not sell the skin of the bear before you’ve killed him,” he said, speaking at one of his campaign offices in Libreville. “In any case, I am confident.”

FRAUD?

Minutes earlier, his spokesman Alain Claude Bilie By Nzé told journalists that Bongo was leading in five of Gabon’s nine provinces.

In comments broadcast overnight on state-owned television, the spokesman went even further, stating that Bongo was poised to win another term in office.

“Even if no figure can or should be given at this stage, we are, in light of information we are receiving, able to say that our candidate ... will claim victory,” he said.

Bilie By Nzé also said “massive fraud” had been observed during the vote, particularly in polling stations located in opposition strongholds.

The interior ministry on Sunday acknowledged fraud had been noted in some polling stations. But it offered little detail and said that the process remained “satisfactory and positive”.

An oil producer with a population of less than two million, Gabon is one of Africa’s richest countries.

Opposition presidential candidate Jean Ping votes during the presidential election in Libreville, Gabon, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Erauds Wilfried Obangome

However, declining oil output and falling prices have resulted in budget cuts and provided fodder for opposition claims that the average person has struggled under Bongo’s leadership. His re-election bid was also hobbled by a series of high-profile defections from the ruling party.

Ping, one of 10 candidates contesting the poll, is a former foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman, who was a close ally of Omar Bongo.

Some opposition supporters have called into question Bongo’s Gabonese nationality, claiming he was adopted from eastern Nigeria as a baby, a charge that risks fuelling xenophobic sentiment and which the president denies.</s>Gabon's President Ali Bongo said Sunday that he is "calmly" waiting for the result of the country's presidential election to be published, after his rival Jean Ping claimed victory following Saturday's vote.

"We respect the law... so we are waiting calmly for Cenap (the national election commission) to announce the results of the election," Bongo told a crowd of supporters in his first public remarks since the poll.

Official results are not due out until Tuesday and some voters voiced fears of a repeat of the violence seen after a disputed 2009 election.</s>Both sides in Gabon poll predict win as votes are counted

LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Election officials compiled results in Gabon on Sunday as representatives of the incumbent president and his most prominent challenger predicted victory.

President Ali Bongo Ondimba is vying for a second seven-year term. Bongo became president after the death of his father, who ruled for more than 40 years.

His strongest challenger is Jean Ping, a former chair of the African Union Commission.

Bongo's spokesman Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze said late Saturday that the president was "en route to a second term." He also said fraud had been noted in some polling stations where opposition representatives were first to arrive, though he did not provide details.

However Ping's supporters said their candidate was clearly the winner and accused Bongo's team of trying to create instability.</s>A poster of Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba is seen as supporters of opposition candidate Jean Ping rally in Libreville on the last day of the presidential election campaign on August 26, 2016. By Marco Longari (AFP/File)

Libreville (AFP) - Gabon's President Ali Bongo and his only serious rival have both claimed victory in this weekend's presidential election, and accused each other of cheating.

Barely had the last ballots been cast Saturday evening before the incumbent's spokesman declared: "Bongo will win... we are already on our way to a second mandate."

Bongo, 57, has been in power since a disputed election held in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich Central African country for 41 years.

On Sunday, the campaign manager of Bongo's rival Jean Ping told reporters that the former head of the African Union Commission had won 60 percent of votes counted so far, just under half of the total, against 38 percent for the president.

He also accused Bongo of "trying to push his way through," with the backing of the army.

"That's totally crazy," countered Bongo's spokesman. "It's tight, but we are ahead."

All of this was said in defiance of Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya, who has insisted only results from the election commission validated by his ministry had any validity.

Before polling began Boubeya said everything was "in place to guarantee a transparent and impartial election".

The poll will be decided by a simple majority and results are expected on Monday.

African Union and the European Union observers said that aside from some delays, the poll itself, in which some 628,000 people were eligible vote, passed off without serious incident.

But the acrimony that had marked the campaign period continued into the weekend with each of the main rivals accusing the other of mischief.

"We have observed massive fraud, in particular in areas where opposition representatives arrived in polling stations first," said Bongo's spokesman.

As he cast his own ballot Saturday morning Ping told reporters, "We know the other side is trying to cheat. It is up to you to be vigilant."

His team had said that a Friday court ruling would allow soldiers, who tend to support Bongo, a former defence minister, to "vote several times in several polling centres".

On Sunday, the streets of the capital, Libreville, were almost deserted.

Fearing a repeat of the violence that followed Bongo's victory in 2009, many residents, who had stocked up on food, stayed indoors.

Even those shops and stalls usually open on Sundays were shuttered.

"There is no trouble in this district for now but we want to get the results soon," said Honore, a watchman.

"We'll see how the candidates react. I hope it won't be like last time," he added.

In the clashes that followed the 2009 victory, several people were killed, buildings were looted and the French consulate in Port Gentil, which saw the words of the violence, was torched.

Until shortly before polling day, Bongo was the clear favourite, with the opposition split by several prominent politicians vying for the top job.

But earlier this month, the main challengers pulled out and said they would all back Ping.

Both candidates have promised to break with the past.

Faced with repeated charges of nepotism, Bongo has long insisted he owes his presidency to merit and years of government service.

His extravagant campaign made much of the slogan "Let's change together", and of roads and hospitals built during his first term.

Ping described Bongo's attempts to diversify the economy away from oil as window dressing.

One third of Gabon's population lives in poverty, despite the country boasting one of Africa's highest per capita incomes at $8,300 (7,400 euros) thanks to pumping 200,000 barrels of oil a day.

There has been growing popular unrest in recent months, with numerous public sector strikes and thousands of layoffs in the oil sector.</s>LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — The United Nations secretary-general is urging political stakeholders in Gabon to avoid making statements on the outcome of Saturday's presidential election until results are announced.

Opposition candidate Jean Ping has said early results show he will win in the oil-producing central African country.

Ping is trying to unseat President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who came to power in 2009 after the death of his father, longtime ruler Omar Bongo. The Bongo family dynasty stretches back to the 1960s.

Gabon's interior ministry said Sunday it is illegal to make a proclamation before the electoral commission announces results, which are expected Tuesday.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's statement on Monday says Gabon's elections were peaceful. Bongo's victory in 2009 sparked clashes between protesters and security forces.</s>GABON opposition candidate Jean Ping called on President Ali Bongo on Monday to “acknowledge his defeat” in a weekend presidential election, telling reporters in the capital Libreville that unofficial tallies give him a clear edge.

Bongo’s camp said on Sunday that it was set to win the single-round contest and accused Ping’s supporters of fraud, charges that could presage confrontation between the two sides.

The Central African oil producer’s interior minister called Ping’s move to pre-empt an official announcement of the poll results, which is expected on Tuesday, by declaring victory an attempt to manipulate the democratic process.

“Based on nearly all the affidavits … we are able to affirm that I am the winner of the presidential vote,” Ping said. “I encourage Ali Bongo to submit to the verdict of the ballot box.”

He also called upon the Gabonese people to “defend their choice throughout the country and overseas”.

Ping said he had told the American and French ambassadors in Libreville that he intended to guarantee the security of Bongo and his family, who have ruled the nation of some two million people for nearly 50 years.

Bongo, 57, first won election after his father Omar died in 2009 after 42 years in office. Declining oil output and falling prices have resulted in budget cuts in recent years, however, providing fodder for opposition claims that average Gabonese have struggled under his leadership.-Reuters</s>Gabon’s main opposition candidate Jean Ping said Sunday he had won a presidential election, beating the incumbent Omar Bongo.

Official results of Saturday’s vote are due out on Tuesday.

“I have been elected. I am waiting for the outgoing president to call to congratulate me,” Ping told journalists and his supporters in the capital Libreville.

The central African country’s interior minister has repeatedly stated that only results released by the electoral commission and confirmed by his ministry are valid.

Both of the two frontrunners had already predicted their own victory and accused the other of cheating.

Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president’s spokesman said, “Bongo will win… we are already on our way to a second mandate.”

In his comments Sunday, Ping, 73 added, “as I speak, the trends show we have won.”

Ping said alleged attempts by Bongo’s camp to commit fraud had been foiled and that “we will finally see off the regime.”

Bongo, 57, has been in power since a disputed election held in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the oil-rich Central African country for 41 years.

Earlier, Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet said official results would be released around 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday and that it was “illegal to release results ahead of the official announcement by the competent authorities.”</s>Gabon opposition candidate calls on President Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat"

LIBREVILLE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Gabon opposition candidate Jean Ping on Monday called on President Ali Bongo to "acknowledge his defeat" in a weekend presidential election, telling reporters in the capital Libreville that unofficial tallies give him a clear edge.

The Central African oil producer's interior minister called Ping's move to pre-empt an official announcement of the poll results, which is expected on Tuesday, by declaring victory on Sunday an attempt to manipulate the democratic process. (Reporting By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Joe Bavier and Toby Chopra)</s>Libreville – Gabon voted on Saturday in a poll posing the biggest challenge yet to President Ali Bongo, whose family has run the central African nation for half a century.

Bongo, 57, is likely to be returned, seven years after winning his first election following the death of his father Omar, who ruled for 42 years.

Polls closed at 7 p.m., an hour late to allow people were still waiting to vote to do so.

Voting was mostly calm, although witnesses said a few scuffles broke out in one area as tempers flared in long queues to cast ballots.

Results are not expected until Monday or Tuesday, although partial results may start trickling out on Sunday.

Land and sea borders were shut on Saturday until 8 p.m. (1900 GMT).

Bongo faced nine other candidates – compared with 22 in the last poll – but his main rival was veteran diplomat Jean Ping.

“The day of glory has arrived and we are preparing as you can see to celebrate victory,” Ping, 73, said shortly after voting in Martine Oulabou school, in the capital Libreville.

Ping faces an uphill struggle, not least because Gabon’s one-round system means the winner doesn’t need a majority, just more votes than any other candidate.

“I have laid out the change achieved and the change to come in the future. For that reason, I’m confident,” Bongo, wearing a blue suit, said after voting.

Bongo has made saving Gabon’s unique wildlife, including pristine equatorial rainforest and elephants, a priority, but voters complain they have more pressing worries.

Ping, meanwhile, has harnessed discontent over the lack of a significant rise in living standards in the population of just under two million, despite its oil riches.

“The Gabonese are suffering. We are not well paid, our children don’t live in good conditions. That’s why I voted for change,” Marie Ange N’no, 40, a civil servant, said outside a polling station in Libreville.

She declined to say for whom she had voted.

Gabon has just rejoined OPEC after two decades and has a GDP per capita of 10,000 dollars a year, making it one of Africa’s richest countries, yet much of that wealth is concentrated in the hands of the elite.

About a fifth of Gabonese live on less than two dollars a day and nearly a third live below its own national poverty line, according to the latest available data, from 2005.

But Gabon faces a financial squeeze owing to a long-term decline in oil output — which shrunk GDP per capita by nearly a fifth between 1980 and 2014, according to the United Nations Development Programme — and a sharp fall in the price of crude over the past two years. Efforts to diversify into agriculture and tourism have yet to bear much fruit.

Oil wealth has flowed mostly to the elite – for a period Gabon was the world’s top per capita importer of champagne – and has trickled down slightly only via its bloated civil service.

During his father’s rule, Gabon was a pillar of “La Francafrique”, an intricate, shadowy web of diplomacy, commerce and French military might that kept African autocrats in power and gave French companies privileged access to them.

Bongo has tried to shake off this legacy by presenting a modern face with a development programme run by technocrats.

“As (Omar Bongo’s) son, it is difficult to present yourself as something new and technocratic when the whiff of corruption hangs over from the last administration,” said Anthony Goldman, head of West Africa-focused PM Consulting.

The mixed-race son of a wealthy Chinese trader, Ping is a former foreign minister and African Union Commission chairman who was once close to Omar Bongo and even had a relationship with his daughter, Pascaline, fathering two children by her.

That limits how much leverage he can get out of dissatisfaction with the Bongo family.

Ping fell out with “Bongo Junior”, as Gabonese call the president, leaving the ruling party in 2014 to become an outspoken critic.

Opposition campaigners have questioned whether Bongo is really Gabonese or an adopted child from eastern Nigeria, something he denies.</s>Gabon’s main opposition candidate Jean Ping claimed Sunday he had been elected president, unseating Ali Bongo as leader of the oil-rich Central African country.

Official results are not due out until Tuesday and some voters voiced fears of a repeat of the violence seen after a disputed 2009 election.

“I have been elected. I am waiting for the outgoing president to call to congratulate me,” said Ping, 73, in the capital Libreville, prompting jubilation from hundreds of his supporters.

“You have foiled the congenital fraud of this regime which we are finally going to see off,” the veteran politician told them.

Bongo, 57, has been in power since the 2009 election held after the death of his father, Omar, who had ruled Gabon for 41 years.

Ping, like the current president, worked for many years in Omar Bongo’s administration.

Both frontrunners had already predicted victory and accused the other of cheating.

Shortly after polling ended on Saturday, the president’s spokesman said: “Bongo will win… we are already on our way to a second mandate.”

Bongo’s camp has acknowledged the election is “tight, but we are ahead”.

Interior Minister Pacome Moubelet Boubeya has said official results would be released around 1600 GMT on Tuesday and stressed it was “illegal to declare results before the relevant authorities do.”

The head of the Pan-African Democracy Observatory, an NGO based in Togo, played down the significance of Ping’s declaration.

“We should not be surprised if one or the other declares victory. It’s all part of the game,” Djovi Gally told reporters.

Fearing a repeat of the violence that followed Bongo’s victory in 2009, many residents, who had stocked up on food, stayed indoors.

The streets of Libreville were deserted with even shops and stalls that are usually open on Sundays shuttered.

The French embassy warned its citizens not to travel within the country unless absolutely necessary for the time being and to keep themselves informed.

“There is no trouble in this district for now but we want to get the results soon,” said one citizen, who gave his name as Honore.

“We’ll see how the candidates react. I hope it won’t be like last time,” he added.

Back then, several people were killed in the clashes, buildings were looted and the French consulate in Port Gentil, which saw the worst of the violence, was torched.

Ping’s campaign coordinator, Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, claimed that Bongo would attempt to retain power by force.

“Ali Bongo has decided to ignore the election and to stay in power. We know from reliable sources that the army is ready to be deployed in Libreville and Port Gentil and all across the country as early as tonight,” said Ayi.

“This is the situation which we are entering: the election is over, the coup d’etat has started.”

Bongo’s camp has dismissed such claims as “totally crazy.”

Emmanuel Edzang, a voter in Libreville, said the capital had the feeling of a “powder keg.”

“It could go off at any given moment if things don’t go well. There are really strong fears regarding people’s behaviour,” said Edzang.

Until shortly before polling day, Bongo was the clear favourite, with the opposition split by several prominent politicians vying for the top job.

But earlier this month, the main challengers pulled out and said they would all back Ping.

Both candidates have promised to break with the past.

Faced with repeated charges of nepotism, Bongo has long insisted he owes his presidency to merit and years of government service.

His extravagant campaign made much of the slogan “Let’s change together”, and of roads and hospitals built during his first term.

Ping described Bongo’s attempts to diversify the economy away from oil as window dressing.

One third of Gabon’s population lives in poverty, despite the country boasting one of Africa’s highest per capita incomes at $8,300 (7,400 euros) thanks to pumping 200,000 barrels of oil a day.

There has been growing popular unrest in recent months, with numerous public sector strikes and thousands of layoffs in the oil sector.
Both President Ali Bongo Ondimba and his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Jean Ping, say they won yesterday's election for a seven-year term as president. Official results are expected Tuesday.