Benin’s 2026 legislative elections: the major trends remain “blocked” at CENA

Five days after the legislative and municipal elections on January 11, 2026, neither the voting trends nor the provisional results have been communicated.

The Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), responsible for organizing the elections, was expected to publish the first major trends from the ballot boxes as early as Wednesday, January 14. This date, initially announced and then postponed to Thursday, January 15, has still not been met.

Officially, the institution cites the ongoing operations of compiling, centralizing, and certifying the results before their transmission to the Constitutional Court for validation. Under the Electoral Code, this process should quickly identify the major trends by electoral district.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court, the only body empowered to proclaim the final results of the legislative elections, has stated that it would publish these results within 72 hours after receiving the data certified by the CENA.

In the absence of official figures, the clash moves onto the field of accusations.
Awaiting the major trends and the results transmitted by the authorized bodies, the party leaderships have engaged in a genuine verbal escalation.

At a press conference, the opposition party, Les Démocrates, denounced “serious irregularities” which, according to them, had tainted the poll. The party nevertheless claims to have won seats in several constituencies, despite maneuvers aimed at excluding it from the political arena. These statements, not supported by official data at this stage, are likely part of a strategy to warn the CENA against political maneuvering.

But the tension is not limited to the opposition. Within the presidential camp itself, suspicion is mounting. The Bloc Républicain accuses its main ally of seeking to “manipulate” the ballot results.

The party cites substitutions of figures arising from the tally and denounces what it describes as attempts to rewrite the scores.

In this climate of generalized suspicion, CENA’s prolonged silence becomes an added source of tension. As the publication of the major trends is postponed, rhetoric hardens, suspicions crystallize, and positions become more radicalized. Looking forward to the release this weekend.