When Denis Sassou Nguesso returned to power at the end of the June–October 1997 civil war, he appointed Nguélé to the government as Minister-Delegate for Urban Planning, Construction, and Housing, in which position Nguélé worked under the Minister of State for Reconstruction and Urban Development, Justin Lekoundzou. Subsequently he was appointed as Minister-Delegate for Land Reform at the Ministry of Construction, Town Planning, Housing, and Land Reform on 18 August 2002. The Convergence for Congo, a political association led by Nguélé, was founded in 2003. Nguélé was promoted to the post of Minister of Land Reform and the Preservation of the Public Domain on 7 January 2005.