According to Tchiroma, he was uninvolved in the coup attempt and the violence was as mysterious to him as it was to others at the time; he said that he observed the gloomy atmosphere that prevailed in the city and noted the general lack of reliable information about what was occurring in Yaoundé.

Described as "a very dangerous element", he was taken to Yaoundé and initially imprisoned for three days in a small cell, three square meters in size, which had no toilet, light, or ventilation.

[3][5] Following Tchiroma's release, he participated in a protest in Garoua against the actions of those who, in his view, were impeding the implementation of the law providing amnesty to individuals implicated in the 1984 coup attempt.

According to Tchiroma, his arrest provoked anger among northerners, and he credited Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, the Secretary-General of North Province, with securing his release in order to defuse the situation.

That faction then became the National Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANDP), a new party featuring a slight alteration of the UNDP's name,[12] and it was legally recognized on 31 August 1995.

[15] Following the June 2002 parliamentary election, Tchiroma and four other notable northern politicians released a statement in July, in which they alleged electoral fraud and announced the formation of a "resistance front".

[18] At the time of the October 2004 presidential election, Tchiroma was part of the opposition coalition and denounced President Biya, urging the people to vote him out.

The panel chose Adamou Ndam Njoya, the President of the Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC), as the joint opposition candidate; however, John Fru Ndi, the Chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), reacted angrily to the decision, saying that the selection process was improper and that he would stand as a candidate despite the panel's decision.

[21] At a press conference on 20 February 2008, he announced his party's support for constitutional amendments favored by the government, including the elimination of presidential term limits.

He particularly stressed his support for extending the 45-day period for organizing a new presidential election following a vacancy in the office,[19][22] arguing that it was "almost impossible" to do so within that length of time.

[25] On 17 August 2009, Tchiroma announced that he had ordered the closure of Sky One Radio due to "multiple infringements of laws governing communications in Cameroon".

Tchiroma said that Ngota had been HIV positive and that he had died due to infections that had "overwhelmed" his weakened immune system, despite the best efforts of prison doctors.

[29] On 21 June 2010, Tchiroma announced the news that the wreckage of a missing plane carrying the Australian businessman Ken Talbot and the rest of the board of the mining company Sundance Resources had been found in Congo-Brazzaville following an extensive search.

[31] Tchiroma stated on 20 April 2017 that Biya had ordered the restoration of internet service in Anglophone parts of Cameroon, where it had been cut off in January 2017 due to unrest.