Lawmakers in the Benin Republic have approved a major constitutional amendment extending the presidential tenure from five to seven years, a move coming barely months before the country’s next general election scheduled for 2026.

The amendment, passed late Friday by an overwhelming 90 to 19 votes, also restricts presidents to serving a maximum of two terms in their lifetime.

The National Assembly, in a statement released on Saturday, said the revised Article 42 now provides that the president “is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of seven years, renewable only once.”

The extension also applies to mayors and municipal councillors, effectively elongating their tenure as well.

The controversial amendment comes at a politically sensitive period in the Francophone West African nation, where President Patrice Talon—in office since 2016—is currently serving his second and final term. Talon has repeatedly insisted he will not seek a third tenure.

Although Benin is often viewed as one of the region’s more stable democracies, political tensions have risen in recent months. In September, prosecutors said they foiled a suspected coup plot allegedly involving senior political and security figures.

Among those named was Oswald Homeky, former sports minister, who was reportedly caught handing over six bags of cash totalling 1.5 billion CFA francs (about $2.5 million) to Djimon Tevoedjre, commander of the republican guard and head of the president’s security unit.

Prosecutors also linked Olivier Boko, a businessman widely known as President Talon’s longtime ally, to the alleged plot. Boko, who had recently indicated interest in running for president in 2026, was arrested in Cotonou, the country’s commercial hub.

With the new constitutional framework now in place, attention is expected to shift to the political calculations ahead of the 2026 contest, as stakeholders continue to weigh the impact of the extended tenure on Benin’s democratic trajectory.

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