Pro-Oligui Robots on Twitter: When the Rescue Operation Turns into a Fiasco

Malfunctioning bots, failed support: transitional president Brice Oligui programmed an army of fake accounts to write automatic tweets of praise on Twitter (X). The only problem: a technical error made the operation ridiculous, exposing the general's amateurism to the entire world just days before the referendum.

For about a week now, a rather unusual phenomenon has been sweeping the social network X (formerly Twitter) in Gabon. Under several publications by President Brice Oligui Nguema, or in tweets where his name is mentioned, waves of supportive comments mysteriously appear, coming from accounts with no prior history. However, this last-minute mobilization, supposed to polish the president's digital popularity, has a slight snag: it is carried out by bots... which are slightly faulty. Syntactic errors, poorly formulated names, missing code and incomplete hashtags: these sponsored tweets make the public laugh instead of convincing them.

Here are some links where you can find the robots in action:

https://x.com/gabon_2025/status/1854883723029643571?t=05wMb9d-q8dT5twZ75A2BA&s=19

https://x.com/gabon_2025/status/1854586354002542962?t=xY9SaTfI48G8Uzd2BI31Dw&s=19

https://x.com/PresidenceGA/status/1855170175856750666?t=KZipiAtPSBIhW69iYk5VzQ&s=19

https://x.com/PresidenceGA/status/1854210134844776662?t=pXF35nSyuYVl9yVNjD4i5A&s=19

https://x.com/oliguinguema/status/1854153061523968374?t=zo_v4cevBEOwx3-eiAz0Dw&s=19

https://x.com/ZitaOligui/status/1854624820086120725?t=p7nG1gdtWsuvNB5hXZcaJQ&s=19

Gabonese Internet users, far from being fooled, observe this digital spectacle with an eye that is half-amused, half-indignant, denouncing the clumsy subterfuge and this failed attempt to embellish the presidential image. A detailed review of this "support-bots" operation that is turning into a parody.

@ZitaOligui I'll teach you how to code if you want honey... https://t.co/3WSaHBIfOd

— Brice “Oli-ment” Nguema - Parody (@BriceOLINguema) November 11, 2024

bot pro oligui? @oliguinguema ? https://t.co/tkzYLo3LlH

— Old Young Woman (@ivannos_96) November 11, 2024

ahahahah even the bot knows that Zita is a cuckold a thousand times over 😂😂 too much for me this #loyalty https://t.co/FOCgOtiRCC

— Séraphine Mavoungou (@serafinevg) November 11, 2024

Are we talking about Oligui's bots? It's OBVIOUS... he needs courses in law, economics, and computer science 😜😜 https://t.co/8cdNxoMvIl

— Séraphine Mavoungou (@serafinevg) November 11, 2024

Is it just me or is it obvious that these are bots? #gabon

— Leon Obame (@LeonObame65003) November 8, 2024

A fictitious support factory for a trembling president?

In a scenario that seems to come straight out of a satirical series, the president's communications teams apparently decided to spend a few bucks on the dark web to make the head of state's aura shine on social networks. The results? Waves of automated comments, riddled with bugs, syntax errors, and haphazard hashtags that, far from earning respect, triggered an avalanche of mockery.

Examples to support this, these famous tweets of support turn out to be more laughable than inspiring:

These clumsy messages, identifiable at first glance, are the laughing stock of Internet users. What do you think of these visible code errors, these unloaded emojis, or even these failed mentions? This support, obviously bought in a hurry, seriously lacks authenticity. The situation borders on the comical.

Internet users dismayed by the spectacle

Far from generating the expected popular enthusiasm, these automatic interventions arouse distrust. The Gabonese, far from being blinded by these clumsy digital maneuvers, openly enjoy them, pointing out a desperate attempt to artificially inflate the presidential popularity. X users are ironic about this "artificial support", seeing it as proof that the president has more bots than real supporters to defend his cause online.

Screenshots of these faulty comments are circulating at breakneck speed on the platform, fueling sarcastic conversations about the authenticity of presidential communication. One Internet user comments, repeating one of the faulty messages: "If even nom_oligui can't remember his own name, how do you expect him to remember us?"; another continues, mockingly: "We knew that politics was a game, but here we are verging on farce!"

A strategy that will have had a devastating effect... on the contrary

Beyond the mockery, this failed attempt at digital manipulation raises serious questions. Why resort to bots , when real support should, in principle, come from the population itself? This digital clumsiness seems to reinforce the idea that the government is disconnected from its people and can only rely on artificial means to improve its image. An approach that appears all the more paradoxical in a context where transparency and proximity to the people are brandished as central values ​​by the president, a few days before a referendum that will be decisive for the future of the country.

For the moment, the "communication" operation is taking on the air of a monumental fiasco, confirming that bots will never replace the authentic engagement of citizens, and that by playing too much with fiction, we end up getting burned.