loyalty. In 1998, just months after Sassou-Nguesso's return to power at the end of a brief but bloody civil war, Oba-Apounou was appointed as President of the Defense and Security Commission of the National Council of the Transition (Conseil National de Transition, CNT—the country's legislature from 1998 to 2002). In 2001, he was elected president of the PCT for the city of Brazzaville and joined Sassou Nguesso's campaign ahead of the 2002 presidential election. In the May–June 2002 parliamentary election, Oba-Apounou was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate in the Abala constituency of Plateaux Region; he won the seat in the first round, receiving 73.63% of the vote. Rumors predicted that he would become the next Mayor of Brazzaville, but he was instead elected as First Vice-President of the National Assembly on August 10, 2002. Oba-Apounou was also assigned responsibility for the National Assembly's relations with the African Parliamentary Assembly on August 23, 2002. Oba-Apounou served as First Vice-President of the National Assembly until the end of the parliamentary term in 2007. He ran again in the June–August 2007 parliamentary election as the PCT candidate in Abala, facing Minister of Higher Education Henri Ossébi and an independent candidate, Joseph Mbossa. Oba-Apounou placed first in the first round, receiving 40.21% of the vote against 32.55% for Ossébi, and he therefore faced Ossébi in a second round. Ossébi prevailed in the second round, receiving 58.26% of the vote. In February 2008 Oba-Apounou was elected as head of the departmental coordination of the Rally of the Presidential Majority (RMP)—the coalition supporting Sassou Nguesso—in Brazzaville. He held that post at the time of the June 2008 local elections. In the August 2008 Senate election, Oba-Apounou was elected to the Senate as an RMP candidate in Plateaux Department, receiving 59 out of 61 possible votes. He was then elected as President of the Senate's Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Committee on 29 August 2008. Oba-Apounou was eventually succeeded as President of the PCT's Brazzaville Federation by Gabriel Ondongo in March 2014. Although he wanted to keep his post, the party leadership insisted that he step down. The decision to replace him was attributed to a desire for renewal in leadership posts, and PCT Secretary-General Pierre Ngolo spoke warmly of Oba-Apounou's experience and wisdom. Oba-Apounou was re-elected to the Senate in October 2014 as a PCT candidate in Plateaux, receiving 60 out of 61