Liberians look set to return to the polls for a second time to determine the West African country’s next President, after neither of the two leading contenders secured enough votes for an outright victory. With more than 98 per cent of the vote counted, a tally of official results for the October 10 poll show incumbent George Weah and his main challenger, former vice-president Joseph Boakai, tied in a dead heat with 43 per cent each. The rest of the vote was shared between 18 other candidates. The tally from National Elections Commission, Liberia’s electoral agency, showed Weah ahead by just 5,456 votes. Both men are set to fall short of the constitutionally-required threshold of more than 50 per cent that is needed to avoid a second round. While the final result is yet to be announced, a second-round run-off between Weah and Boakai is set to be held before the end of the year. A new president is expected to be sworn in in January 2024. A fresh run-off between the two men would mark a repeat of the 2017 elections. That time, Weah won the second round with 61.54 per cent of the vote. However, analysts believe the results of this year’s are likely to be closer. “There’s an opportunity for both candidates to win,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at UK think-tank Chatham House. The incumbent’s inability to secure a first-round victory is the latest indication of the deep frustration that has marked his six-year tenure as president.
But it must be said that one man saw all of this coming. President George Opong Weah was warned time and time again by the founder and leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele. This phenomenal man of God and an outstanding Prophet whose reputation for warning and guiding world leaders with ground breaking prphecies that often come to pass has been repeatedly issuing several warnings to the Liberian President. In several videos, many of which are available online, the man of God could be seen speaking to the Liberian president not to get complacent and over confident, warning him that the opposition is working tirelesskly to ensure things will not work out as planned for him at the elections. They are working round the clock and will certainly not let him have an easy time to getting his much desired second term ticket. But, as it can be seen from the current state of the elections, the Liberian President obviously disregarded the repeated warnings of the remarkable Primate Ayodele whose staggering volume of fulfilled prophecies are all out there in public domain for all to see. He has been doing this for close to three decades and has remained one of Nigeria’s most consistent and respected prophets.
In this brief chat with City People’s Senior Editor, Primate Ayodele tried to recapture the many moments he warned the Liberian President, Gheorge Opong Weah not to get over confident and do all that needs to be done to secure a second term.
Heare him: “For the Liberian presidential election, we warned that the present government has what it takes to win the election and excel but the President George Opong Weah must restategise because opposition will also give him a good fight at the polls. It won’t be a stroll in the park for him. The opposition will do so many things to lure thousands of people away from the party, so he must be on top of the situation and do all that is needful so that he can sustain the momentum he is currently enjoying and retain the seat. He has what it takes to take charge of the situation and lead the country, but the president was turning deaf ears to all these warnings. We warned him eight times. If he had listened, and do all that was asked of him, there would have been no need for a second round rerun of the elections.”
“I spoke in very strong and clear terms to George Opong Weah. I told him there will be a political gang up against him but it will not work if he seeks the face of God. I can see him winning the election and retaining his seat, but he must be ready to do the needful. We saw all of these coming. We also told him there will be attempts to cause riots and chaos during both his campaigns and the election proper, but he will survive it all. And all of these happened.”
“He was also warned that there will also be issues that will spring up within his party which, if not carefully handled, could lead to serious collapse of the party, so George Opong Weah needs to be very careful. They will lie against him, they blackmail him. Opposition will begin to find loopholes to cause tension in his campaign in order to scuttle the chances of him getting a second term through the ballot. So, he must quickly restrategise so that nothing the opposition does will frustrate his second term. These arte the things that are manifesting now, which is why he could not get more than the 50% of votes he needs to seal his second term victory.”
“Many will also remember that I warned very clearly that the President George Weah must not sleep because the enemies want to do everything to bring him down. He will face some problems from within his immediate cabinet but he must stand steadfast. Her should pray against political tension in Liberia and also pray against ethnic and tribal clashes. He should also pray aqgainst natural disasters in the country. The truth is, they want to malign George Weah, but if he takes time to restrategise and not get over confident, why not, he will win the election.”
Right now, it is going to be a tight one for the Liberian President. A rerun election could go either way. But, freedom all indications, if he had listened to the warnings of the man of God and not get over confident, there would’ve been no need for a sercond round of election. He would have won at the first time of asking.
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
