Africa’s oldest leader Paul Biya faces desertion as top allies resign to run against him

Two senior Cameroonian ministers have announced their resignations to contest the October 2025 presidential election.

On Tuesday, Tourism and Leisure Minister Bello Bouba Maigari became the second prominent northern politician to step down, saying he would focus on his presidential bid. Maigari, 78, was endorsed over the weekend as the flagbearer of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP), a party that has traditionally allied with Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM).

“This time round, the governing arm of our party has decided that we participate in the next presidential election with our own candidate and has asked me to be that candidate, a request which I have accepted,” Maigari told reporters.

Earlier, Employment and Vocational Training Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary also resigned to enter the race under the Cameroon National Salvation Front (FNSC). In a 20-page open letter to Cameroonians, Tchiroma, 79, said he was answering the call for new leadership after decades of what he described as stagnation. “The time for self-deception is over,” he wrote. “The time has come to look at our reality head-on, with clarity, courage, and a sense of duty.”

Both men hail from the northern regions of Adamawa, North, and Far North, areas that account for about two million of the more than eight million registered voters, according to the election body, Elecam. Their departures are seen as an unprecedented political challenge to Biya, 92, who has ruled since 1982 but has yet to declare whether he will seek re-election.

A report from the East African indicates that senior government officials have begun efforts to contain further defections. Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Secretary-General at the Presidency, convened meetings this week with political leaders from all 10 administrative regions as part of damage-control efforts.