Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Timi Frank, has urged President Donald Trump and leaders of the international community to recognise opposition presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary as the duly elected President of Cameroon.

Frank made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, calling for sanctions against the incumbent president, Paul Biya’s regime.

This comes amid widespread allegations of President Paul Biya’s attempt to thwart the will of the people by again seeking to manipulate the results to elongate his stay in office.

Citing publicly posted polling unit results and region-by-region vote tallies, Frank said the data clearly shows Tchiroma Bakary as the legitimate winner of the Cameroon election.

“From all indications, the people of Cameroon have spoken through the ballot and overwhelmingly chosen Issa Tchiroma Bakary. But as we’ve seen too often in Africa, the will of the people is under threat from entrenched dictatorships,” he said.

He faulted the Biya regime’s alleged intimidation, harassment, and violence against citizens protesting against the attempt to overturn the results of the election, warning that any attempt to manipulate the outcome through the courts could push the nation into an unprecedented crisis.

“Paul Biya, at 92, remains Africa’s longest-serving leader. His refusal to relinquish power despite popular rejection is a mockery of democracy,” Frank stated. “Cameroon is already burning because the youth are rejecting attempts to manipulate the outcome in favour of Biya. They know who truly won,” he said.

He also urged world leaders to impose targeted sanctions on the Biya regime if the electoral result is tampered with.

“I call on President Donald Trump and other global leaders to help Cameroonians by recognising Bakary and by imposing diplomatic and economic sanctions on Biya’s regime. The rigging of elections in Africa must stop. The time has come for the will of the people to prevail.

“If the international community does not act now, what is happening in Cameroon may soon be replicated elsewhere, including Nigeria. The African Union must also act urgently. Silence is not neutrality — it is complicity,” he stated.

DAILY POST reports that Bakary had claimed electoral victory against 8th term incumbent president Biya after Monday’s polls as Cameroonians await the outcome of the election.

Cameroon election results: Recognise Bakary, sanction Biya now – Timi Frank to World leaders