Cameroon’s Tourism Minister Bello Bouba Maigari has accepted his party’s nomination to seek the presidency in the expected October election, amid uncertainty over whether long-serving President Paul Biya plans to run for reelection.
Maigari, 78, a former prime minister and staunch ally of President Biya for over 30 years, was nominated by the National Union for Democracy and Progress on Saturday, without resigning from his cabinet post.
This development comes after fellow northerner Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former government spokesperson, announced his candidacy last week, potentially signaling a fracture in the alliance between Biya’s central government and influential northern elites.