Presidential Elections 2026: 72 hours for the LD party duo to stay in or quit the race

Their candidate duo, Renaud Agbodjo and Jude Bonaventure Lodjou, officially submitted their application file to the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA). But not everything is settled yet. Some documents are missing from the file, the head of the institution, Sacca Lafia, said at the end of the procedure.

“We have received your application file. In accordance with Article 41 of the Electoral Code, we must issue you a receipt of submission, along with the observations noted at this stage. The main one concerns the completeness of the file,” the president of the CENA said.

He added that the missing documents will be notified to the duo in a second letter, and that the candidates will have 72 hours to provide them to allow for the final review of the file.

The Agbodjo–Lodjou duo, representing the main opposition party, received their provisional receipt, the administrative symbol of the candidacy submission. It remains to be seen whether the party will manage to fill the identified gaps, notably around the issue of sponsorship, which continues to spark debate and internal tensions.

The CENA has already started the countdown. For Les Démocrates, time is running out and every hour becomes decisive in this final stretch before the official validation of the candidacies.

All eyes are therefore on the Constitutional Court, where the party has filed a challenge following the decision of the Cotonou court that led to the invalidation of MP Michel Sodjinou’s first sponsorship form.