–Says Senators must “Rise above partisan interests and reject” him
Liberia’s largest civil society grouping that oversees electoral matters has out-rightly rejected President George Weah’s pick for commissioner of the National Elections Commission.
The Election Coordinating Committee (ECC) called a news conference midday Tuesday, March 24, 2020 and denounced the President’s nominations, which it says lacks broad based consultations with stakeholders.
ECC said though it realizes that the president has the power to appoint and the new election law of 2013 states that a commissioner must be a Liberian, it still takes acceptation to the nomination of a Cllr. Nwabudike who still holds loyalty to his country of birth – Nigeria.
ECC claims that Cllr. Nwabudike is morally conflicted and lacks the credibility required to exercise neutrality over an independent body that is supposed to decide Liberia’s president and other elected officials.
Attorney Oscar Bloh, the Coordinator of ECC told the news conference in Monrovia on Tuesday, March 24, 2020:
“The ECC strongly opposes the nomination of Cllr Ndubusi Nwabudike as the new Chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), replacing Cllr. Jerome Korkoyah and calls on the President to withdraw the nomination and the Senate not to confirm him if the withdrawal is not heeded to”.
Bloh argued “not everything that is legal is expedient. If he is successful in serving as the Chairperson for NEC, he could sit as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Bench because there is no law that would prohibit it”.
The Election Coordinating Committee fears that the chairmanship of the national election management body cannot be seen as representing the interest of any particular political party as elections are about people and the public needs to have trust in the election management body, which is a fundamental requirement for the peaceful outcomes of election processes.
“While it is true that Cllr. Nwabudike is a naturalized citizen of Liberia, he is firstly a Nigerian citizen and this questions his loyalty to Liberia and therefore is not a suitable candidate to lead and manage a sensitive state institution like the NEC,” the ECC said.
The ECC also opposes the confirmation of Mr. Floyd Saryon as a member of the Board of Commissioners and calls on the Senate to also reject his nomination.
The electoral watchdog recounts that Mr. Saryon played a controversy role in the recently conducted bi-election in District 15, Montserrado County that led the NEC to order a re-run at several polling precincts.
At the same time, the ECC has observed that the appointment of the new batch of Commissioners lacked broad based consultation with Political Parties and civil society organizations.
While it is true that the President has the Constitutional power to appoint Commissioners of the elections management body, the Election Coordinating body believes that those on the Commission should reflect the country’s political diversity and interests.
The Elections Coordinating Committee also warned that “elections can make and break emerging democracies like ours and sometimes they contribute to violent conflicts. Our peace is fragile.”
ECC urged the government ‘protect” Liberia’s growing democracy by making the right decisions, particularly when it comes to the nomination and appointment of individuals to manage and supervise the conduct of elections in the country.