Jean Eyeghé Ndong (born February 12, 1946) is a Gabonese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Gabon from January 20, 2006 to July 17, 2009. He was also the First Vice-president of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) until 2009. Eyeghé Ndong resigned as Prime Minister in July 2009 and announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the August 2009 presidential election. Subsequently, he withdrew his candidacy in favor of a joint opposition candidate, André Mba Obame, and acted as spokesman for the opposition. He has been vice-president of the National Union, a unified opposition party, since its creation in February 2010. Political career Eyeghé Ndong, who was born in Libreville, is a nephew of Léon M'ba, who was President of Gabon from 1960 to 1967. He was administrative director of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) from 1984 to 1990, then Deputy Director-General of the CNSS from 1990 to 1991 and Deputy Director-General of the National Social Guarantee Fund from 1991 to 1996. In the December 1996 parliamentary election, Eyeghé Ndong won a seat in the National Assembly of Gabon as a PDG candidate in the second arrondissement of Libreville. He was then appointed to the government as Secretary of State under the Minister of Finance on 28 January 1997 and therefore did not sit in the National Assembly until 1999, when he was excluded from the first government of Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane. Eyeghé Ndong again ran as the PDG candidate for the first seat from the second arrondissement of Libreville in the December 2001 parliamentary election, but on that occasion he was defeated by Paul Mba Abessole of the National Rally of Woodcutters - Rally for Gabon (RNB-RPG). In the first round he placed second with 32.54% of the vote, behind Mba Abessole's 38.52%. Despite his failure to win a seat, he was appointed to Ntoutoume Emane's government as Minister-Delegate under the Minister of State for the Economy, Finance, the Budget, and Privatization on January 27, 2002; he worked in that capacity alongside another minister-delegate, Senturel Ngoma Madoungou. In the December 29, 2002 local elections, he was elected as a municipal councillor in Libreville, and he was subsequently elected to the Senate. Eyeghé Ndong remained in his position as Minister-Delegate at the Ministry of Finance for four years. He was then appointed to succeed Ntoutoume Emane as Prime Minister on January 20, 2006,