Summary: Claims that the Liberian Senate rejected Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike’s nomination as Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) due to his Nigerian parentage is Incorrect.
Posts on Facebook by several blogs have claimed that Ndubusi Nwabudike was rejected by the Liberian Senate as Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) after he was nominated by former President George Weah because one of his parents is a Nigerian.
Under the Liberian law, only citizens can be chairman of the NEC.
These claims were being made after President Joseph Nyumah Boakai nominated businessman Amin Modad as Minister of Commerce subject to confirmation by the Liberian Senate.
These Facebook posts are seeking to make a case that since Mr. Nwabudike was not confirmed as NEC chairperson, Mr. Modad, whose father is a Lebanese and mother a Liberian, will also be rejected by the Liberian Senate.
The Claim
One of the posts made via Facebook page Modern Liberia Agency reads: “The Liberian Senate rejected the nomination of Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike as Chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC) on ground that he has one of his parents from Nigeria. Will Amin Modad who is caught in the same situation be confirmed by the Liberian Senate, or he’ll be treated like Nwabudike?”
Rating Justification
To fact-check this claim we checked for existing press releases and records of the Senate’s rejection of Nwabudike’s nomination. Our search found a report from FrontPage Africa, published on April 1, 2020. The report states that Nwabudike’s nomination was denied because of the many inconsistencies and misinformation he provided the Committee about himself.
The news report adds that Mr. Nwabudike admitted to the inconsistency in his date of birth when it was discovered that in his passport his year of birth is 1965, while his university document carried 1963.
Also, on May 14, 2020 a news article by the New Republic newspaper recounting a radio interview with the head of the special investigation committee of Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA), Cllr. Milton Taylor reported that Cllr. Nwabudike was rejected by the Liberian Senate after it was discovered that he lied under oath on his citizenship status. It was later shown that he had two years of birth – 1963 and 1964.
To further verify this claim, we contacted Mr. Alfred Johnson, Director of Press and Public Affairs at the Liberian Senate.
When asked why the Liberian Senate rejected the nomination of Mr. Nwabudike as Chair of NEC, Mr. Johnson responded via cellphone: “He was rejected because he had two birth dates in the documents that he submitted to the Liberia Senate during his confirmation. It was because he lied under oath evident by the discrepancy with his birth dates. It was not because one of his parents is not a Liberian”.
Conclusion
Based on the evidence we have reviewed; we conclude that the social media claims that Cllr. Ndubusi Nwabudike was rejected by the Senate on grounds that one of his parents is a Nigerian is incorrect.
He was rejected by the Senate and his nomination withdrawn by the president because of discrepancies in his personal records – his date of birth.