Koffigoh was born in Kpélé Dafo. He served as the head of Togo's Bar Association and in August 1990 he founded the first human rights organization in the country, the Togolese League of Human Rights ("Ligue togolaise des droits de l'homme", LTDH), which quickly won support both at home and abroad. He was elected as Prime Minister by the National Conference on 27 August 1991; President Gnassingbé Eyadéma was stripped of his powers and was left as a ceremonial president. Koffigoh was tasked by the Conference with forming a transitional government leading to elections that were then planned to be held in 1992, in which neither Koffigoh nor Eyadéma were to be allowed to run. Although Eyadéma had sought to suspend the Conference, surrounding the venue with soldiers, he subsequently accepted Koffigoh's appointment. Aside from serving as Prime Minister, Koffigoh also became Minister of Defense. According to the opposition, Koffigoh's subsequent appointments of supporters and friends to head public enterprises led to some criticism and antipathy from other members of the opposition; he was accused of strengthening his own power base rather than the unity of the opposition, thus weakening the opposition in the ongoing struggle against Eyadéma.