KIGALI, Rwanda

Cameroon’s incumbent President Paul Biya announced his candidacy Sunday in a presidential election scheduled for Oct. 12, putting an end to months of speculation.

Biya, 92, the world's oldest serving head of state, came to power in 1982.

However, in a statement, Biya said that while the results of his long reign are visible and laudable, much remains to be done.

“In the face of an increasingly difficult international environment, the challenges facing us are more and more pressing. In such a situation, I cannot shirk my mission,” he said.

“I have therefore decided to heed the numerous and insistent calls from the 10 regions of our country and from the diaspora. I am a candidate for the 12 October 2025 presidential election,” Biya said.

He assured that his determination to serve Cameroonians is commensurate with the serious challenges facing them.

He pledged that the well-being of Cameroonian youth and women will be at the heart of his priorities.

“Together, there are no challenges we cannot meet. The best is still to come.”

In the 2018 elections, Biya won with 71.28% of the vote, according to official results.

Political parties are already mobilizing for the election.

Biya announced the presidential election date last week. But he had not confirmed whether he would seek re-election for what would be his eighth term in office until Sunday.

The ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) has been calling on Biya to seek reelection

But opposition parties and activists say his grip on power stifled the economy and democratic process.

Several others have already declared their candidature, including former Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who resigned from his position last month.

Tchiroma told voters that the Biya administration broke public trust, and a “country cannot exist in the service of one man.”

Another ally of Biya, Tourism Minister Bello Bouba, accepted the nomination by his National Union for Democracy and Progress party to run for the presidency.

Last year, Biya’s health was the subject of intense speculation after he disappeared from public view for several weeks.

More than 8 million Cameroonians are eligible to vote in the presidential election, according to provisional data from the electoral commission.