Let me commend the Liberian govt and the people for respecting, sustaining, and promoting democracy in our continent. Liberia is a country where electoral laws and the wishes of the people are respected. Nigerian Govt and leaders must go and learn from Liberian political development and stop embarrassing us as a people. The giant of Africa that can not conduct free, fair, and credible elections is a crawling political giant of fraud.
Peeping into the Liberian political experiment that led to the defeat of a sitting President. General elections were held in Liberia on 10 October 2023 to elect the President, the House of Representatives, and half of the Senate. Incumbent President George Weah of Congress for Democratic Change was eligible for a second term. He contested against the opposition leader, Joseph Boakai of the Unity Party
No candidate won a majority in the first round, with Weah narrowly placing first over opposition leader Joseph Boakai, which meant both advanced to a runoff held on 14 November 2023. Boakai defeated Weah with 51% to 49% in the closest runoff in Liberia’s history, and President Weah conceded the election peacefully.
Below is a short breakdown:
Joseph Boakai -Party – (UP)
George Weah -Party – (CDC)
Running mates; Jeremiah Koung of UP and Jewel Taylor of CDC
Popular vote UP – 814,428, CDC – 793,910
Percentage; UP-50.64%, CDC-49.36%
The visibly peaceful atmosphere in Liberia and the peaceful concession after the election were a result of the standard performance of the electoral body and importantly, its neutrality to all political parties. This is a landmark in election conduct in Africa.
Congress for Democratic Change (abbreviated CDC) is a Liberian political party formed by supporters of George Weah during the 2005 presidential campaign.
President Weah is on the special advantage to subvert the will and wishes of the people of Liberia and make the entire electoral process ungovernable for the umpire as a sitting President but chooses to respect, uphold and sustain the sanctity of a participatory cum representative democracy.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) of the Republic of Liberia is an autonomous agency in Liberia that supervises the national elections of Liberia. Nigerian electoral body operates under the name Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, unfortunately, the supposed independent body is embarrassingly dependent.
The duo of Liberia NEC and Nigerian INEC have the same or similar functions electorally, while Liberia’s NEC plays its role constitutionally in upholding the people’s will, Nigerian INEC prefers to uphold the will of the highest bidder and ruling party.
Commendation from the global angle on the Liberian Election, European Union observers described the runoff as remarkably close and well administered. ECOWAS and US congratulated Liberia on the “largely” peaceful elections.
Having a history of a remarkable election process, a similar Liberian Presidential election was held in late 2005, and Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was declared the winner; she became the first woman to be elected head of state in Africa.
She stepped down after two terms and was succeeded by former football star George Weah in 2018 who is now being defeated in the 2023 election by another opposition candidate.
The free and fair process led to the emergence of a female President in Liberia, of course, that will never happen under a highly comprised and corrupt Mahmood’s INEC. We all know the reaction of the EU after the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Election. We know the imports of dissatisfaction of the numerous observers both local and foreign.
The failure of the Nigerian electoral body has led to a plethora of election petitions in tribunals across the country with INEC being dragged on the rough floor even months after the election.
By now, Mahmood Yakubu of Nigerian INEC should be ashamed of himself and his complicity in seeing the very transparent, fair, free, and acceptable election conducted in Liberia under a sitting President who also sought another term. INEC under Mahmood Yakubu should be disbanded now or be reorganized completely with new leadership to save Nigeria from further disgrace, shame, condemnation, and embarrassment within the comity of nations.
The current Nigerian INEC under Mahmood has exhibited every symptom of a seriously sick, failed, weak, and highly corrupt institution, needles to continue to waste taxpayer’s money on such a Ponzi organization. INEC is now navigating between one worse election to a more terrible election outcome.
How can one describe the Yahoo Yahoo Governorship Election that took place on November 11, 2023, in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa where INEC signed results emerged ahead of voters at various polling units, LGAs? Prof Moris Iwu, the then INEC chairman must be a hero when compared to Mahmood Yakubu.
Liberia is located along the coast of West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the Southwest, Sierra Leone to the West, Guinea to the North, and Cote d’Ivoire to the East
No nation or continent can sustain true democracy and attain political development and progress with a fraudulent, biased, dependent, compromised, and integrity deficit electoral commission and leadership.
Congratulations to the Republic of Liberia!
~ Gbenga Bright Oluade Writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
