ACCRA -- The exiled presidential candidate for Togo's main opposition party, Gilchrist Olympio, arrived late Friday in Ghana from where he was due to return to Lome on Saturday, a source close to him told AFP.

Olympio said he would travel by road from Ghana's capital Accra to Lome.

"I have to be there to complete the necessary formalities, medical examinations and so on," said Olympio.

Olympio, the head of the Union of Forces for change, announced last month that he would stand in the June 1 presidential election.

The son of former president Sylvanus Olympio, who was assassinated in 1963, Olympio has not returned to Togo since 1999 for "security reasons", according to his entourage.

The former French colony has been ruled since 1967 by President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who came to power in a military coup, governed unchallenged for more than two decades and was then twice elected in multi-party polls, the last one in 1998.

The Ruling Togolese People's rally (RPT) Party on Friday chose Eyadema as its candidate for the election.

Olympio, who also stood against Eyadema in the 1998 presidential election, claimed to have won that poll and said the results were rigged to allow his rival to remain in power.

He has appealed to the international community to help ensure the June election is free and fair.

There is a technical problem over his candidature: A rule in the electoral code adopted in December stipulates that candidates in the presidential election must have resided in Togo for at least 12 months before the vote.