UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has announced that he is sending former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to Liberia to support the transfer of power peacefully to a democratically-elected president.
Another Nigerian former leader, Goodluck Jonathan is at present in the country, at the head of a monitoring group.
Guterres, who announced Obasanjo’s appointment as an envoy on Wednesday in New York through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, also welcomed the peaceful conduct of the second round of the presidential election in Liberia.
Liberians on Tuesday, voted in a second round of elections, deciding between Vice-President Joseph Boakai and George Weah, a politician and former soccer star.
This would be Liberia’s first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically-elected leader to another in more than 70 years.
“The Secretary-General hopes that the will of the Liberian electorate will be respected and that a seamless transfer of power will take place within constitutional timelines,” the statement said.
Guterres had requested Obasanjo, who is a member of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation, to travel to the capital, Monrovia, from Thursday, Dec. 28 to Saturday, Dec. 30 Dec.
The first round of elections in the west African country was held in October.
A runoff was originally scheduled for November, but was delayed due to allegations of voter irregularities by a third candidate.
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