Liberia’s President, George Weah, has conceded defeat to opposition candidate Joseph Boakai after a tight run-off election.
Weah, a former soccer star, called Boakai after the country’s National Elections Commission (NEC) released provisional results on Friday.
Boakai, a 78-year-old former vice president of Liberia, won 51% of the votes as said by the country’s electoral commission.
In an address to the nation, Weah said: “The results announced tonight, though not final, indicate that Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai is in a lead that we cannot surpass. Therefore, a few minutes ago, I spoke with President-elect Joseph N. Boakai to congratulate him on his victory.
President Weah was voted into office in 2018 and will step down in January.
A run-off was triggered when Weah, 57, secured a victory in an earlier October poll with a margin of just 7,000 votes over his political rival, Boakai. However, he fell short of the required 50% threshold necessary to clinch an outright victory.
Weah was seeking reelection for a second six-year term after a tumultuous first tenure tainted by corruption scandals and allegations of mismanagement.
He has been praised for immediately conceding ensuring, a peaceful transfer of power – a significant milestone in Liberia’s fragile democracy, which has seen civil war and previous leaders killed in office.
There have also been a spate of coups in West and Central Africa in recent years.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu was among the first to congratulate the new President-elect while also commending Weah’s “sterling example, undiluted patriotism, and statesmanship. He has defied the stereotype that peaceful transitions of power are untenable in West Africa,” a statement from Nigeria’s presidency said
