Dakar — A crony of the newly-elected Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been forced to resign from the government due to a magazine report that links him to a financial scandal.

Mr Jean Pierra Oyiba who is President Ali Bongo Ondimba's Chief of Protocol, resigned on Wednesday but has denied links with the scandal that was reported this week by the Paris-based Jeune Afrique magazine.

The magazine, which has gathered a huge credibility for its objective reporting of behind the scene issues and events in Africa over the last 40 years, provided evidence that linked Mr Oyiba to fraudulent activities with the Paris branch of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).

Although the exact amount which the former protocol director allegedly swindled was not given, Mr Oyiba said he was resigning to give him enough latitude to fight back the allegation which he has described as "baseless and misleading".