KAKATA, Margibi County – Margibi County senatorial aspirant and former House Speaker James Emmanuel Nuquay, has been caught in leaked audio threatening to go after and “damage” a rival’s supporter over a Facebook post.
Report by Yawah Y. Jaivey, Contributor
This Facebooker had termed aspirant’s Nuquay’s gale of endorsements received in the county as ‘borrowed crowd’.
The five-minute clip, which FrontPageAfrica has gathered and authenticated, was made out of a telephone conversation between Mr. Nuquay and Geovanie Brooks, the Research Officer to Margibi District #2 Representative Ivar K. Jones. Rep. Jones is the candidate on the ticket of the Coalition for Democratic (CDC) in Margibi County in the ensuing Senatorial Elections.
In the leaked audio conversation, former Speaker Nuquay is heard angrily mandating Brooks to take down his Facebook post with immediate effect and balefully stating that he (Nuquay) could get people to go after him and damage him if he fails to adhere to his demand.
Geovanie’s Facebook post
On September 16, 2020, Brooks wrote on his Facebook page caption: “The Real Achievable Project 2020 Holds No Fear from Borrowed Crowd; The Case Study with Nuquay’s Endorsement in Margibi County.”
“Trooping people from communities to a particular community for Nuquay endorsement is a failed strategy brought forward from 2017, and will not still help”, Brooks asserted in his post.
He further added: “Exposing it here, I am one of the formulators of this strategy for Senator Tornonlah senatorial bid in 2014. The strategy which accrued for Senator Tornolah the highest number of votes in District 2 of the Five Electoral District in Margibi County was formulated for foot soldiers’ operations with a defined objective, and not for petition and endorsementx.
“If you recall, February 11, 2017, when the citizens petitioned Hon. Ivar K. Jones, Hon. Zayzay wanted to out-number the crowd pulled by Hon. Ivar K. Jones. So, he (Hon. Zayzay) used the borrowed crowd strategy. Those political foreigners came and made the crowd day for him (Hon. Zayzay), but at the end, you saw the results of 2017. He said, “When it was used (trooping people in the community) for foot soldiers’ operations, wherein we were using those yellow ‘killerbean buses’ for Tornonlah senatorial bid in 2014. Tornonlah got the highest number of votes from district 2. But see, when it was used with the same yellow ‘killerbean buses’ for petition and endorsement in 2017, Hon. Zazay got defeated badly”.
Continuing, Brooks stated: “If you borrow crowd and troop it in a particular community for endorsement, these are the consequences it brings to your chance of being elected: As the political foreigners enter the community, they occupy the spaces or seats, and then you video or photograph them as dwellers of that community while the community dwellers sit at homes. The political foreigners become the hearers of your political message instead of the community dwellers”.
“NO FEAR, We will win District# 2 and win the 2020 Senatorial Election. The REAL ACHIEVBLE PROJECT 2020 (IVAR K. JONES) IS A MUST”, Brooks concluded.
The transcript of the telephone conversation between Mr. Emmanuel James Nuquay and Mr. Geovanie Brooks:
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “Did you notice the number before you answered it; did you know that I am the one calling you?”
Geovanie Brooks: “No oooo….”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “I just want you to know I see you writing all kinds of craps on Facebook; I don’t want to destroy you, if you continue I will go after you, you know what we passed through. I will call the Revered and tell him. That bullshit, you put all the posts down and if you don’t put all the posts down I will go after you; I don’t want to destroy you”.
Geovanie Brooks: “In what way; in what manner Chief?”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “The same way you are doing it”.
Geovanie Brooks: “Let go civil. Don’t go that far to say bullshit”.
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “I never said bullshit. I did not use that word”.
Geovanie Brooks: “oh you sure?”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “My man I am telling you just be careful. You know yourself. Ehn you know yourself?”
Geovanie Brooks: “I know myself very well. I did nothing against you or against me”.
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “I am seeing you posting that I am laying this and that”.
Geovanie Brooks: “Honorable that is quotation. Did you read it correctly? That statement is in quotation mark”.
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “You said I lied?”
Geovanie Brooks: “No listen. That statement is in quotation”.
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “But wait now who are you quoting? Brooks, Brooks, I don’t even going to have that conversation with you. I am just telling you that I feel for you. I want you to be careful; you destroying yourself. I don’t want to waste my time to go after you, but if you continue I will tell people to go after you.”
Geovanie Brooks: “Who am I to come after me? That means I am somebody. I did not say to you that I saying it. I quoted people, I quoted sources.”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “You are posting crowd, I been seeing it. I just advising you; I will call the Reverend and tell him. You understand?
Geovanie: “I still hold that respect so I can’t go that route”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “I am advising you; you can’t match me in anything. That thing you guys can do running here and there, you are a young man and some of you guys are destroying yourself. You know you came to me we had conversation. How will you leave from there and be doing different thing”.
Geovanie Brooks: “Honorable listen now; I did not go to you to ask anything. You invited me through the Reverend simple and we had conversation and what more about that?”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: You want for people to know about that conversation?”
Geovanie Brooks: “It left with you”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “But you are putting yourself out. You want people to know about the conversation you had with me? So, let have conversation about it now.
Geovanie Brooks: “You accused me of posting something and I want explain to you. That quotation mark meaning I am quoting someone”.
Emmanuel James Nuquay: I am advising you; you know you came to me and you know we had a conversation”.
Geovanie Brooks: “I have not done that before; I have always been encouraged by people to lead me to you.”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “Yes you came to me whether people encouraged you; you came to me and we had a conversation. You did come to my apartment and sit there and talked.
Geovanie Brooks: “You suggested the venue and venue doesn’t matter. What matter is the nitty gritty of the issue. The thing you are accusing me of is what I want to explain, but you don’t want to give me chance. I just quoted and it is not anything bad.”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “Brooks, Brooks, I am just telling that am reading your post and take for instant you post that we get borrowed crowd; do you know the meaning of we get borrowed crowd? I can talk to you. All the other people that can post and say craps ask them, I don’t have time for them. So, I thought you will have respect for yourself and the conversation”.
Geovanie Brooks: “Oh, honorable don’t go that far now.”
Emmanuel James Nuquay: “No that respect for yourself and conversation. I am not insulting you. Don’t say don’t go that far; that respect for yourself and conversation. You posted that we get borrowed crowd and your definition of borrowed crowd is to have Zayzay, John David and Marcus Speare the three people you called crowd because the two people you showed are borrowed crowd according to you. I can pay people to go after you”.
In response to a FrontPageAfrica’s inquiry on the leaked audio that is trending on social media in the county, Mr. Nuquay recalled that Brooks recently reached out to him with a request that he wanted to support his candidature in the Senatorial Elections, but to do so, Mr. Nuquay alleged that Mr. Brooks requested to him (Mr. Nuquay) to purchase him a car and provide him a US$10,000., an allegation Brooks alluded to when he appeared on a local radio station in Monrovia.
“In addition, Mr. Brooks intimated to me that he would withdraw his support from his boss who is also a candidate in the election and support me fully. He also requested that our conversation be kept confidential; something to which we agreed”, Mr. Nuquay noted a through a statement.
Nuquay said: “In order to test his loyalty, I decided to delay the fulfillment of his request which I could do as a way of helping a young man in need. My intentional delay, probably frustrated Mr. Brooks and he began to post a series of malicious things against my name and character on Facebook, contrary to the confidentiality agreement we have had”.
Mr. Nuquay asserted that as a consequence of Brooks’ action, he phoned him to remind him to respect the confidential rules that he earlier suggested.
“I cautioned him to desist or I will expose all of our conversations or use my people to do so. That is the context of saying ‘I will destroy you’. I have never associated in harming anyone physically nor have any intention of doing so, now or in the future.” The former Margibi County lawmaker noted.
He, however, said that his statement has been taken out of context by his opponent including Rep. Jones, who sees him as the presumptive winner of the December 8, Senatorial Election for Margibi County.
“Our people in the County know the facts and they aren’t bothered by the smear campaign. Mr. Brooks will do us all justice if he releases the full versions of all our conversations so as to establish his claims”, Mr. Nuquay urged.
Meanwhile, due to the latest threats, many residents of Margibi see Nuquay as being vindictive and unforgiving.
Mr. Nuquay made similar threat in 2017 against residents of the county who were against his Vice-Presidential bid. “People are coming and they want our job, but it is not our business to give them our jobs. We will never ever do that. This is our birth right. They come with a lot of rudeness, but there is one thing that we have said, which I want to reiterate, is that let them bear in mind that whether it takes one, two, three or 10 years they will pay the price for their rudeness. I said this and I will say it consistently because I will do it no matter heavens open. Now is the time for these job seekers to exhibit their rudeness, but after October 11 going forward, will be my time. October 11 would be the day right after the election and would be my time!” Nuquay stated during the 2017 elections. Political pundits attributed Nuquay’s Unity Party’s dismal performance in 2017 to this statement.
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