He was the Honorary President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC).
[1] Akitani stood as the UFC's candidate in 2003 because UFC President Gilchrist Olympio had been barred from running due to his failure to meet the residency requirement.
[4] The UFC alleged fraud and Bob-Akitani claimed to have won the election.
[3] Following Eyadéma's death, he ran again in the April 2005 election as the candidate of an opposition coalition that included the UFC.
He was again declared runner-up in the election, behind Eyadéma's son, Faure Gnassingbé, amidst widespread allegations of seized ballot boxes and other electoral fraud.