MONROVIA – European Union Ambassador to Liberia, Nona Deprez, has emphatically dismissed a circulating spreadsheet on social media that claimed the EU had projected opposition leader Joseph Boakai as the winner of Tuesday’s election with a commanding lead after tallying up to 90 percent of the votes.
In response to an inquiry from FrontPage Africa, Deprez categorically refuted the spreadsheet’s authenticity, saying, “The EU would never do that; this is fake news.”
The fraudulent spreadsheet, titled “Projections for JNB First Round Victory (Best Case Scenario for CDC),” falsely asserted that Unity Party standard bearer Joseph Boakai had secured victory with 51.23 percent, while incumbent George Weah trailed with 39.21 percent.
On Thursday, Leopoldo Lopez Gil, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union Parliament, who is currently in Liberia to observe the elections, urged political parties and candidates to accept the results officially declared by the National Elections Commission (NEC) for the October 10 elections.
“In our capacity as democratically elected politicians, my colleagues and I urge all political leaders to accept the election outcome and peacefully address any disputes through the courts,” he stated during a press conference hosted by the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Monrovia on Thursday.
The EU EOM praised the Liberian government and the National Elections Commission for their transparent and well-conducted elections. They also commended the Liberian people for their peaceful and active democratic participation on October 10.