Benin — 2025 Municipal Elections: candidate registrations open at CENA

From October 24 to 28, 2025, the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) will be registering candidacy declarations for the election of members of the communal councils. The operation takes place exclusively at the institution’s headquarters in Cotonou, in accordance with the current electoral calendar.

CENA announced this Thursday the opening of candidacy registrations at CENA as part of the upcoming local elections. The aim is to allow legally constituted political parties and coalitions to submit their candidates’ files for validation by CENA.

After the registration period closes, CENA will verify the submitted files and publish a provisional list. That list will be followed by an appeals phase, before the final validation of the candidacies, which will pave the way for the electoral campaign.

Political parties are therefore asked to stick strictly to the set deadlines, otherwise their candidacies may be rejected for late submission or incomplete files.