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The people of Benin would have to go to the polls again in a run-off in the next 15 days to elect a new President.

This is because provisional results by the independent electoral commission of Benin indicates that none of the 33 presidential candidates was able to secure the 50 per cent plus one vote to be the outright winner of the March 6 election.

The constitutional court of Benin which has the final say in all presidential electoral matters, is expected to pronounce on the development.

If the court gives the go ahead, the run-off would be between the current Prime Minister Lionel Zinsou and Patrice Talon in the next 15 days.

The two candidates came first and second. Zinsou was first with 856,218 representing 28.34 per cent while his closest rival Talon had 746,798 representing 24.83 per cent.

The electoral commission has communicated the results to the constitutional court which will consider all complaints from the electorate, organised groups and candidates as well as what it observed during its own monitoring of the process and pronounce on the way forward.