Ademola Adegbamigbe
Former Nigerian President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, has joined the pantheon of former democratically elected presidents of the world (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Julius Nyerere, Keneth Kaunda, Olusegun Obasanjo, Jerry Rawlins) who visit countries where elections are held, making sure that everything runs smoothly.
Right now, he is in Liberia, co-leading the United States’ National Democratic Institute (NDI) International Elections Observation Mission. He met (alongside former President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga; former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana, Hanna Tetteh, and other NDI leaders) separately with the Liberia’s major presidential candidates, Mr. George Weah, an international football star running on the platform of Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), and Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party (UP) and the chairman of NEC, Mr Jerome Korkoya, sueing for peace and transparency in Tuesday’s presidential run-off elections in the country.
His media adviser, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, reported the meetings in today in a statement, revealing that Jonathan advised the two presidential candidates “to accept the result of the elections in the interest of peace and stability in Liberia.”
According to Jonathan: “In any election, there are winners and losers. Only one presidential candidate will be declared winner.
“The other should accept the election results to avoid a political crisis, especially if there are no good grounds to challenge the outcome,” he was quoted as saying.
Jonathan equally called on the National Electoral Commission, security agencies and other stakeholders to be conscientious in playing their role to ensure a “peaceful, inclusive and transparent electoral process’’.
“The economy of Liberia will benefit immensely from a positive and peaceful outcome, as a free and fair process would go a long way in reassuring investors that the country is now safe for lasting investment.
“If the election fails it means Liberia has failed, it also means that Liberia has failed West Africa and failed the entire Africa.”
“ Although both candidates pointed out some lapses in the preparations, especially with the issue of the voter register, they however agreed to accept the outcome of the results.
Speaking at the meeting, Weah, reportedly said he was prepared to accept the outcome of the election.
“If the Liberian people decide that the other side will have another twelve years in the Presidency, we will call and congratulate them.
“But as I said, if the election is free and fair, we are going to win. This is because we have worked so hard and our people want the change which we are offering,” he said.