Posted by Xinhua on
Football great George Weah, one of the two candidates in the Liberian presidential run-off, is to meet with President Olusegun Obasanjo this weekend in Nigeria over the election, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported Friday.
Football great George Weah, one of the two candidates in the Liberian presidential run-off, is to meet with President Olusegun Obasanjo this weekend in Nigeria over the election, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported Friday.
Weah's visit was "part of efforts to resolve disputes" over the poll on November 8 which pits him against former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, said Mohammed Ibn Chambas, executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) .
Weah undoubtedly has lost but he had alleged that the second round was marred by fraud. Hearings into his claims opened Wednesday but his lawyers failed to deliver related witnesses or documents.
Chambas explained that Weah, who was expected in Nigeria's capital Abuja Thursday to meet with Obasanjo, also chairman of the African Union, could not keep the appointment because he was attending the hearings.
Chambas said that the 15-member ECOWAS had held dialogue with all the parties in the Liberian elections and urged aggrieved parties to respect the outcome of the Supreme Court litigation.
It was "not unusual for people to disagree with election results" and such grievances should be channeled through the due process and without violence, the ECOWAS executive secretary was quoted as saying.
Nigerian former vice-president, Alex Ekwueme, who monitored the election, said the Liberian authorities had indicated that all complaints would be resolved before November 23 when the final results would be released.
African leaders and international observers are however unanimous in their observation that the election was generally free, fair and transparent.
Source: Xinhua