 He was elected to the National Assembly in the March 1992 parliamentary election as a Deputy from Benoué.Although a five-year residency requirement initially prevented Bello Bouba from running for President later in 1992, this was changed to one year; the change has been attributed to the desire of the French government to have Bello Bouba participate in the election.Bello Bouba placed third in the election, held on October 11, 1992, behind Biya and Social Democratic Front (SDF) candidate John Fru Ndi, receiving 19.22% of the vote.