As Cameroon electoral workers counted votes, an opposition candidate proclaimed himself the victor of the country's election, despite warnings from the electoral commission that only the constitutional council can legally announce the winner of the presidential race.

Cameroon Renaissance Movement party candidate Maurice Kamto on Monday made the announcement in Yaoundé, a day after the vote.

"I call on President Paul Biya to ensure a peaceful transition and avoid situations that may be ugly for Cameroon," he said.

Kamto, however, didn't give any figures to back up his claim. His supporters took to the streets to celebrate and armed separatists who had threatened the vote congratulated him on social media.

Biya's ruling party dismissed Kamto's claim as fantasy and accused him of breaking the law by making it.

The deputy secretary general of Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, labour minister Grégoire Owona, accused Kamto of breaking the law.

"It is not right at all to announce this. He hasn't won anything at all. It's totally illegal," he said, adding that it was too early to say if anyone had won.

Vote counting for the election began Sunday after polls closed.

The official results must be announced by Oct. 22. Two observer missions have declared the elections to be fair.‹ (Reuters)

•Maurice Kamto, a presidential candidate for the opposition Cameron Renaissance Movement,