Prime Minister Nicephore Soglo defeated President Mathieu Kerekou in a first-round presidential vote, but the former Marxist dictator got enough ballots to force a runoff, election officials said Tuesday.
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Final unofficial results after Sunday's election in the small West African nation gave Soglo 36.87 percent of the vote, compared with 26.04 percent for Kerekou. Since no candidate won a majority, a runoff between Soglo and Kerekou is scheduled for March 24.Labor leader Albert Tevoejre finished third with 14.14 percent. The remaining vote was divided among 10 other candidates. Election officials said 1.2 million of the country's 2 million registered voters cast ballots.