In 1991, a few months before the National Conference, Kodjo returned to Togo and founded a new opposition political party, the Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD). On July 20, 1993, he was designated by the Collective of Democratic Opposition (COD II) as its sole candidate for the presidential election of August 25, 1993, although Gilchrist Olympio of the Union of the Forces of Change (UFC) did not accept this decision. Along with fellow opposition leaders Yawovi Agboyibo and Djobo Boukari, Kodjo announced on August 22 that he was withdrawing his candidacy and boycotting the election due to the number of registered voters being considered too high—a possible sign of preparations to rig the election.