According to Jeune Afrique, former Prime Minister Patrick Achi has been nominated by President Alassane Ouattara to succeed Adama Bictogo as Speaker of the National Assembly. The election is scheduled for Saturday, January 17.

He was reportedly chosen by President Ouattara to run for this key position, which has been held by Adama Bictogo since 2022. The head of state announced the nomination during the RHDP party presidium meeting on January 15 in Abidjan.

Two months after Alassane Ouattara’s decisive victory in the October 25 presidential election, the RHDP achieved another major triumph in the December 27 legislative elections. The party secured 197 of 255 seats, about thirty more than in the previous assembly (including 44 additional constituencies won)—with some of the 23 independent candidates likely to join their ranks.

After leaving the prime minister’s office in October 2023, replaced by Robert Beugré Mambé, Patrick Achi—who had previously served as Secretary General of the Presidency—joined a team of consultants for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while also teaching a semester at Harvard University. He was appointed Minister of State and Special Advisor to the Presidency in early 2025. This technocrat, a former member of the Ivorian Democratic Party (PDCI), was elected as a deputy in his home region of La Mé, which he currently presides over.