Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has disclosed he will run for office again in coming November elections.
His Democratic Party made the announcement last Friday.
The world’s longest-standing leader is extending his 43-year tenure that began when he ceased power in a 1979 coup.
President Obiang’s rule has been marked by torture of political opponents, electoral fraud and several allegations of corruption, foreign powers say.
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The 80 -year-old Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has denied his personal and government’s involvement in all such charges.
Under Obiang’s leadership, the West African country has become increasingly reliant on oil and gas which is the country’s main source of state revenue.
Western powers allege chunk of the oil money lines the pockets of friends and families of the president while majority of Equatorial Guinea citizens live in abject poverty.
His son and Vice-President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue was convicted of embezzlement by a French court in 2020.
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue in a post on his Twitter on Friday said his father was nominated to run again “due to his charisma, leadership and political experience”.
Equatorial Guinea economy was knocked back by COVID-19 and a drop in international oil prices as a result of the Russia- Ukraine war.
The resulting need for non-Russian oil and gas will perhaps help spur growth in the country.
Widespread poverty and economic hardships remain a challenge in Equatorial Guinea.
Another term for Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo will bring fresh challenges to the already troubled oil rich West African nation.
The country was shuttered when series of explosions at an army barracks that raised down large part of the coastal city of Bata last year.
The devastating explosions killed almost 100 people, forced the country to seek humanitarian aid response from former colonial power Spain.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo was born 5 June 1942.
He is an Equatoguinean politician and former military officer who has served as the 2nd president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979.
President Obiang is the longest-serving president of any country ever and the second-longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world.
