MONROVIA – Cllr. Charles Gibson would be facing the Senate for the third time for confirmation for a presidential nomination. The confirmation for his first two nominations was hindered by his past record bordering on acts of corruption and ineligibility for the nominated post.
Cllr. Gibson who was on Tuesday nominated as the new Minister of Labor was President George Weah’s first preferment for Minister of Justice in January 2018 during the formation of the new government. However, a FrontPageAfrica investigative report on his background raised public concerns which led to the withdrawal of his nomination on February 7, 2018 after a delayed confirmation hearing.
FrontPageAfrica had unearth that the Supreme Court Grievance and Ethics Committee established that Cllr. Gibson misappropriated US$25,322.00 from a client, which led to his two-month suspension from direct and indirect practice of law by the Supreme Court in the bailiwick of Liberia in 2017.
The Committee report showed that the proceedings started from a 2013 final judgment rendered by the Debt Court for Montserrado County, awarding the complainant, GECCO represented by its president, Mr. Anwar Saoud, the amount of US$286,200.00 (Two Hundred Eighty-Six Thousand, Two Hundred United States Dollars) against the Global Bank Liberia Ltd.
FrontPageAfrica also discovered that Gibson lost his job at the United Nations Mission in Liberia for allegedly shortchanging one of his clients in a land deal.
Two years on, Cllr. Gibson was again nominated as the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) Board Chairman in February this year but the Senate refused to confirm him. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources headed by George Tengbeh of Lofa County stated that he was not he is not eligible and qualified for the position.
His nomination as Labor Minister by President Weah on Tuesday come as a result of the transfer of Mr. Moses Y. Kollie who held the position to the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority.
What remains unclear is whether the Senate would tamper justice with mercy in relation to Cllr. Gibson’s new preferment. However, the Liberian Senate has in recent time been stringent in the confirmation of presidential nominees as was in the case of Cllr. A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike who was nominated to head the National Elections Commission (NEC) but was withdrawn as the confirmation hearing brought to light his alleged nationality fraud.
The Senate Confirmation hearing exposed how Cllr. Nwabudike had multiple dates of births on various documents he presented and conflicting names and at the same time could not prove that he genuinely obtained his naturalization documents. He was born to Nigerian parents.
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