MONROVIA – The whirlwind of dissent that followed President George Manneh Weah’s nomination of Cllr. Nbusi Nwanbudike to head the National Elections Commission did not weaken until the Liberian Senate, even including Senate allies of the ruling establishment, were compelled to bow. He, himself, walked out of the last moment of the multiday confirmation hearing also bowing in the spoils of his own dispositions. But before he was preferred for that crucial national position, Cllr. Nwanbudike was already the head of another very critical position, head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC). The sooner he got a bloody nose at the Senate, he recoiled into what appears to be a fallback position—the LACC. But again, many voices are knocking on the door of the Commission and the door of the President to oust him over circumstances that led to his confirmation-rejection. A leading Opposition Party has joined the fray, increasing the knocks on the President’s door to throw Cllr. Nbusi Nwanbudike out of the public service.
The Liberty Party is calling on President George Manneh Weah to dismiss “with immediate effect” Cllr. Nbusi Nwanbudike as head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission.
In a release signed by its Deputy Secretary for Press and Public Affairs, Kla-Edward Toomey, II, the party contends that “it is a shame, embarrassment, contradiction and absolute violation of the Presidential Oath of Office that President Weah would continue to keep Cllr. Nwabudike as head of our country’s biggest anti-corruption institution after the thrilling exposure of his shady character.”
“Should the President fail to yield to our requests for the dismissal of Cllr. Nwabudike from the LACC and commence a revocation proceeding of his Certificate of Naturalization, the Liberty Party Legislative Caucus will begin to mobilize the support of like-minded Lawmakers to block all budgetary support to the LACC as an initial step to saving the image of the LACC and our country.”
The party recalled that a few weeks ago, the Liberian Senate in a dramatic and landmark confirmation hearing of President Weah’s appointee to the Chairmanship of the Board of Commissioners of the National Elections Commission (NEC) uncovered what appears to be the dubious circumstances under which Liberian Citizenship has over the years been awarded to aliens.
During the confirmation hearing of Cllr. Nbusi Nwanbudike, the party asserts that “it was established that his acquisition of Liberian Citizenship fell short of meeting the mandatory age requirement for one to seek naturalization in Liberia as provided under Part III, Chapter 21.3 Subsection (2) of the Alien and Nationality Laws of Liberia.
This provision of the Law states that, “No person shall file a petition for naturalization unless he shall have attained the age of twenty-one years.”
It was clearly established during the confirmation hearing of Cllr. Nwanbudike that he was far below the age of twenty-one when he attained his purported Liberian Citizenship, the Liberty Party argued in its press release.
“It is worth noting that Liberty Party does not stand against the idea of our African Brothers attaining Liberian Citizenship as provided by our Constitution and Alien and Nationality Law. What we are against is for anyone to so flagrantly manipulate our system, violate our laws and continue to enjoy the support and patronage of our President who took oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Liberia. It is an absolute national embarrassment that President Weah would continue to keep Cllr. Nwanbudike as head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) after his disgraceful confirmation hearing that exposed his dubious acquisition of Liberian Citizenship.”
Liberty Party says it “seizes this moment to call on President Weah to with immediate effect dismiss Cllr. Nwabudike as head of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) to save our country from further embarrassment, and instruct the Attorney General of Liberia to commence a revocation or cancellation of the Certificate of Naturalization awarded to him in keeping with Part III, Chapter 21.50, paragraphs (a) (b) (d) and (f) of the Alien and Nationality Law of Liberia.”
As grounds for revocation of the citizenship of a naturalized Liberian, the LP further cites the concealment of material facts or willful misrepresentation at the time of the filing of a petition for citizenship, indicating that paragraph (b) deals with the ineligibility of a person at the time of the filing of a petition for naturalization; paragraph (d) deals with the lack of good moral character at the time of the filing of the petition of naturalization and paragraph (f) highlights the violation of laws governing the acquisition of citizenship at the time of the filing of the petition for naturalization.
“We find all these provisions of the Alien and Nationality Law of our country controlling of the circumstances that characterized the acquisition of Liberian Citizenship by Cllr.Nwanbudike,” the Party said.
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