Presidential elections were held in Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

 in March 1991, the first such election since 1970. The first round, held on 10 March, saw no candidate receive more than 37% of the vote; the second round on 24 March resulted in Nicéphore Soglo

Nicéphore Soglo

Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo is a Beninois politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He has been the Mayor of Cotonou since 2003.-Biography:Soglo was born in Togo...

 being declared the winner, with almost two-thirds of the vote. Voter turnout was 56.3% in the first round and 64.1% in the second.

The election marked the first instance in post-colonial Francophone Africa that an opposition candidate won a free election.

Results

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Nicéphore Soglo Nicéphore Soglo Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo is a Beninois politician who was Prime Minister of Benin from 1990 to 1991 and President from 1991 to 1996. He has been the Mayor of Cotonou since 2003.-Biography:Soglo was born in Togo...	Union for the Triumph of Democratic Renewal	419,787	36.2	881,215	67.5
Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou, was President of Benin from 1972 to 1991 and again from 1996 to 2006. After seizing power in a military coup, he ruled the country for 17 years, for most of that time under an officially Marxist-Leninist ideology, before he was stripped of his powers by the National Conference of...	Independent	315,079	27.2	423,501	32.5
Albert Tevoedjre	Our Common Cause	165,174	14.3
Bruno Amoussou Bruno Amoussou Bruno Ange-Marie Amoussou is a Beninese politician and President of the Social Democratic Party . He was the President of the National Assembly from April 1995 to April 1999 and Minister of State in charge of Planning and Prospective Development under President Mathieu Kérékou from 1999 to 2005;...	Social Democratic Party Social Democratic Party (Benin) The Social Democratic Party is a political party in Benin.The PSD was founded in 1990. Running together with the National Union for Solidarity and Progress in the February 1991 parliamentary election, the PSD won 9.8% of the vote and eight out of 64 seats in the National Assembly.The PSD's first...	66,053	5.7
Adrien Houngbédji Adrien Houngbédji Adrien Houngbédji is a Beninese politician and the leader of the Democratic Renewal Party , one of Benin's main political parties. He was President of the National Assembly of Benin from 1991 to 1995, Prime Minister of Benin from 1996 to 1998, and President of the National Assembly for a second...	Democratic Renewal Party Democratic Renewal Party (Benin) The Democratic Renewal Party is a political party of Benin led by Adrien Houngbédji. Houngbédji lived in exile for several years, but returned to Benin to take part in the National Conference of 1990. He built up his party largely around other exiled Beninese...	53,187	4.6
Moise Mensah	Independent	39,984	3.4
Sévérin Adjovi Sévérin Adjovi Sévérin Adjovi is a Beninese politician and leader of the Liberal Democrats' Rally for National Reconstruction-Vivoten , as well as a businessman....	Liberal Democrats' Rally for National Reconstruction-Vivoten Liberal Democrats' Rally for National Reconstruction-Vivoten The Liberal Democrats' Rally for National Reconstruction-Vivotene is a political party of Benin led by Sévérin Adjovi....	30,710	2.7
Bertin Borna	Independent	18,578	1.6
Idelphonse Lemon	Independent	11,517	1.0
Assani Fasassi	Independent	10,393	0.9
Gatien Houngbédji Gatien Houngbédji Gatien Houngbédji is a Beninese politician and the president of the Union for Economic and Social Development . Under President Mathieu Kérékou, he was Minister of Trade, Craft Industry, and Tourism from April 1996 to May 1998...	Democratic Union for Social and Economic Development	10,272	0.9
Robert Dossou Robert Dossou Robert Dossou is a Beninese politician. He was the foreign minister of Benin from 1993 to 1995.-References:...	Alliance for Social Democracy Alliance for Social Democracy Alliance for Social Democracy is a political party in Benin led by Robert Dossou. The ASD was legally recognized on 12 October 1990....	9,641	0.8
Thomas Goudou	Builders and Managers of Freedom and Development	8,041	0.7
Invalid/blank votes		19,340
10,417
Total		1,177,666	100	1,315,123	100
Source: Nohlen et al