The Liberian leader, George Weah conceded defeat to opposition leader Joseph Boakai after a tight presidential run-off, saying it was “time to put national interest above personal interest.”
Goodluck Jonathan, a Peoples Democratic Party candidate who was defeated by Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress candidate in the 2015 Presidential election, hailed Weah for conceding defeat.
Tinubu, Nigerian President, also hailed Weah for exhibiting good leadership and statesmanship.
With more than 99.5 percent of the polling stations reporting vote tallies after Tuesday’s second-round vote, Boakai had garnered 50.89 percent of ballots cast, according to the election commission.
Boakai was 28,000 votes ahead of Weah, according to Friday’s figures. The two finished neck-and-neck in the first round last month, with a national lead of just 7,126 votes for Weah.
President Weah accepted his electoral defeat to opposition leader Joseph Boakai, capping a tenure dogged by accusations of corruption on Friday, November 17.
The election of Weah – the first African footballer to win both FIFA’s World Player of the Year trophy and the Ballon d’Or, had sparked high hopes of change in Liberia, which is still suffering from back-to-back civil wars and the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic.
But critics have accused his government of corruption and him of failing to keep to his promises.
In an election, already being called the best in Africa by international observers, latest results showed Boakai leading with nearly 51 percent of the votes in Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic founded by freed American slaves.
“The results announced tonight, though not final, indicate that… Boakai is in a lead that we cannot surpass,” Weah said in a speech on national radio late on Friday, November 17.
He said his CDC party “has lost the election but Liberia has won,” adding: “This is the time for graciousness in defeat”.
Boakai aged 78 lost to Weah, 57, by a large margin in the second-round presidential vote in 2017.
The United States congratulated “President-elect Boakai on his victory and President Weah for his peaceful acceptance of the results”.
“We call on all citizens to follow President Weah’s example and accept the results,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Tinubu, Jonathan hail Weah for conceding defeat
President Bola Tinubu and former president Goodluck Jonathan have hailed Liberian President George Weah, for exhibiting great leadership and statesmanship after conceding defeat of opposition leader, Joseph Boakai, in the just-concluded election in the country.
According to Liberia’s electoral commission, Boakai received 50.89 per cent of the vote after counting votes from more than 99 per cent of polling locations, while Weah received 49.11 percent.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu hailed Weah for ‘defying the stereotype’ that peaceful transitions of power are impossible on the continent.
He also congratulated President-elect Boakai and urged him to make good governance available to the people of Liberia.
The statement read, “I commend President George Weah for his sterling example, undiluted patriotism, and statesmanship.
“He has defied the stereotype that peaceful transitions of power are untenable in West Africa.
“He has demonstrated that the outcome of elections in the sub-region need not become the propellant of violence and unrest and that the will of the people must always be respected.”
In a post on X on Saturday, former President Jonathan, who was also the leader of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF) for the general elections and run-off, hailed Weah for promoting peace and progress of his country.
He stated that Weah showed “an exemplary display of statesmanship” and urged the president-elect to be magnanimous in victory.
The tweet partly reads: I congratulate the President-Elect His Excellency Joseph Boakai and urge him to be magnanimous in victory and seek to continue the efforts to unite and advance his country.
“I am also particularly grateful to the outgoing President His Excellency George Weah, who has just conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent even ahead of the official declaration of the final result by the National Election Commission
“By doing this, President Weah has exhibited an exemplary display of statesmanship and commitment to the peace and progress of his country.”
Weah said he had spoken to Boakai “to congratulate him on his victory.”
“The Liberian people have spoken, and we have heard their voice. However, the closeness of the results reveals a deep division within our country,” Weah said in his speech.
“Let us heal the divisions caused by the campaign and come together as one nation and one united people.”
Weah who remains president until the handover of power in January pledged to “continue to work for the good of Liberia.”
According to the nation’s elections commission, Boakai, a 78-year-old former vice president who lost to Weah in the 2017 election, received 50.9% of the vote, while Weah received 49.1%.
Boakai said: ‘‘We have a job ahead of us to do, and I’m excited that the citizens have given us approval.
‘‘First and foremost, we want to have a message of peace and reconciliation.”
Liberia continues to grapple with the aftermath of two civil wars (1989-2003) and a 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic.
This result is very different from 2017 when Weah, a legendary soccer player, won in a landslide, according to Reuters.
It will be the second peaceful handover of power from one democratically-elected government from another in two decades.
The elections were the first since the United Nations in 2018 ended its peacekeeping mission, created after more than 250,000 people died in the two civil wars in Liberia between 1989 and 2003.
International observers, including the European Union, have commended Liberia for holding a peaceful election.
Regional bloc ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, said the poll was “largely” peaceful.
Around 2.4 million Liberians were eligible to vote on Tuesday and the turnout was about 66 percent, according to the electoral commission website.
