Sodjinou’s sponsorship: the Constitutional Court will consider the LD party’s appeal on Monday
The Constitutional Court is holding a decisive hearing this Monday, October 20, 2025, on the appeal filed by the party Les Démocrates in the controversy over MP Michel Sodjinou’s endorsement form. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the seat of the high court.
At the origin of this procedure is an order issued on October 13 by the president of the Cotonou First Instance Court, who had ordered the party Les Démocrates to return to the MP the endorsement form he had sent to the party president since September 2.
The judge also instructed the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA) to cancel the document in case of non-compliance, and then to issue a new one to the elected official concerned.
The next day, CENA complied by canceling the 28th endorsement form initially allocated to the party. A decision with heavy political consequences, since it led to the removal of a key document from the file of the presidential ticket Renaud Agodjo–Jude Lodjou, candidates under the banner of Les Démocrates.
MP Michel Sodjinou had taken legal action after, according to his lawyers, encountering obstacles in retrieving his form from his party’s officials. But Les Démocrates vigorously contest the jurisdiction of the Cotonou court, arguing that any issue related to the electoral process falls exclusively within the Constitutional Court’s remit.
The appeal filed by the party therefore aims to annul the October 13 order and to obtain the reinstatement of the endorsement form invalidated by CENA. The decision the Constitutional Court will hand down in the coming hours will be decisive: it will have to rule between elected officials’ right to freely hold their endorsement forms and institutional oversight of the electoral process.
A highly awaited verdict, as the April 2026 presidential election enters a phase where every legal decision now carries heavy political weight.