MONROVIA – Abraham Darius Dillon appears to be in a comfortable lead but he is not taking any chances in ensuring the National Elections Commission does not tamper with the tallying of the results as he has already issued a caveat to the Commission in a series of social media posts.
“NEC, just so you know! We are alert and watching. We have our tally sheets. Just so you know!!!” Senator Dillon posted to Facebook.
In another post, he stated, “Tally Sheets …. NEC, do not try the voice and will of the people. Do not dare!!!”
He again posted, “The people clearly spoke through their ballots. There is a trend, and the trend is not changing. It keeps going the same direction. Do not panic!”
The National Elections Commission is yet to begin the release of provisional results from the Tuesday election, however, some candidates are beginning to claim victory while others claim to be in the lead, though the tally sheets show otherwise in some areas.
Senator Dillon is not the only candidate keeping close eye on the NEC, his compatriot, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawerence of Grand Bassa County also took to Facebook on Tuesday warning: “We have won! and no amount of threats or the presence of the entire Government in the County will change these results. We will protect our votes by ensuring that the right actions are taken. Messing with the wrong people!!! CPP has won! Liberia has won and we are standing by to defend our victory.”
Her social media post come amid speculations that President George Weah travelled to the county on Wednesday on an unofficial vehicle where he met with some individuals at Hotel Buchanan.
FrontPageAfrica has not been able to independently verify this information.
On Wednesday, supporters of the Sen. Lawrence and Milton Findley who ran on the ticket of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) took to the streets of Buchanan with both sides claiming victory.
This led to altercation among the opposing sides and two people reportedly got wounded.
The campaign team of Senator Lawrence on Wednesday evening held a press conference in which they declared her as the winner based on the tally sheets they claimed to have gathered from various polling places in the county.
They called on the NEC to announce the result as it is so as to maintain the peace in the county.
Sen. Dillon has also announced the holding of a press conference at the Liberty Party headquarters in Monrovia on Thursday at noon.
However, Senator Dillon who spoke with FrontPageAfrica at the Liberty Party headquarters in Monrovia on Wednesday said his ‘victory’ in the senatorial election is a decision by the electorates that call for the end of dictatorship.
He said the results from the elections should serve as a wakeup call to the government to govern properly.
“This election shows that Liberia is deciding to uphold democracy and not dictatorship. It speaks to having an understanding between the Liberian Dollars and US Dollars. Our people are saying, Mr. President, we don’t hate you, but just want you to wake up to the reality,” Senator Dillion stressed.
He added, “Our people are saying, all the mysterious killings ongoing in the country need to stop. Our people are saying, they want to understand how the US$25Million mop up exercise was conducted.”
Despite expressing lack of confidence in the National Elections Commission, Dillion said the results are glaring and that the NEC must do nothing less than announcing the result just as it is.
According to him, the only confidence he has of already being victorious stems from support of majority electorates in Tuesday poll.
“We want to thank God for a peaceful process. We want to thank our people for turning out to participate in the process and we expect that the National Election Commission will do nothing less, than announcing the will of the people,” Dillon said.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission says the election was held consistent with the NEC transparency requirement.
“The Commission is pleased to inform you that all political party agents, Independent Candidates Representatives, local and International Observers and the Media in each polling place were allowed to witness the sorting, reconciliation, and counting of votes at all polling places across the country. The result from each polling place was on the wall for public viewing. Additionally, copies of the results were given to the first two representatives who obtained highest vote gathered at every polling place. Thereafter, the original copies of results from each polling place was placed in a temper evident envelope for delivery here at our tally center for processing,” she added.
