A second ally of Cameroon's Biya enters presidential race

YAOUNDE (Reuters) -Cameroon's Tourism Minister Bello Bouba Maigari has accepted his party's nomination to seek the presidency in an expected October election, with long-serving President Paul Biya yet to announce whether he plans to run for reelection.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

A former prime minister, Maigari, 78, has been a staunch ally of President Biya for more than 30 years. He accepted the National Union for Democracy and Progress' nomination on Saturday, though he did not resign from his cabinet post.

He is the second government minister from northern Cameroon to announce a presidential bid in recent days, signalling a potential fracture of the strategic alliance between Biya's central government and influential northern elites.

CONTEXT

In power since 1982, Biya is the world's oldest serving head of state at 92. He has not confirmed whether he plans to run for reelection.

Maigari's announcement was preceded last week by the resignation from the government of fellow northerner Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former government spokesperson, who announced his candidacy, citing widespread calls for change.

Northern Cameroon's three provinces of Adamawa, North and Far North, with over 2 million voters, hold significant electoral sway.

BY THE NUMBERS

More than 8 million Cameroonians have registered to vote, according to provisional data from the election commission in the cocoa- and oil-producing Central African nation of about 30 million.

(Reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Editing by Ayen Deng Bior and Joe Bavier)

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