Ivorian lawmaker Assalé Tiémoko, whose candidacy for the October 25, 2025 presidential election was declared inadmissible by the Constitutional Council, has announced plans to introduce a bill amending the Electoral Code when parliament reconvenes in October.
He argued that the current citizen sponsorship system lacks transparency, citing discrepancies in the verification of his endorsements.
According to him, more than 8,000 signatures he submitted vanished during the review process, raising doubts about the fairness of the system.
Tiémoko said his proposal will call for the abolition or reform of citizen sponsorship, including the right for candidates or their representatives to be present during verification procedures.
He also vowed to take the matter to the ECOWAS Court of Justice if the National Assembly fails to act.
His concerns come as opposition figure Pascal Affi N’Guessan, president of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), also denounced his exclusion from the race, describing it as “arbitrary political elimination.” Affi’s candidacy was invalidated after the Constitutional Council retained less than half of his required endorsements, rejecting over 21,000 on grounds of incorrect identity card numbers.
He has since announced plans to petition the public prosecutor to suspend the electoral process. Both Tiémoko and Affi argue that the sponsorship mechanism has become a political tool to disqualify rivals, with calls growing for greater transparency and accountability ahead of the election.
