The battle between the Chairman of the Liberty Party (LP), Musa Hassan Bility, and the party’s Political Leader, Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence, has crossed its first stage of adjudication, with the National Elections Commission (NEC) noting that Liberty Party’s 2021 notarized constitution submitted to the commission is deemed proper and remains as such until successfully challenged in keeping with due process or via amendment by the party.
This NEC statement in the Liberty Party hullabaloo clearly means that the commission recognizes Musa Bility as the legitimate Chairperson of the party amidst Senator Karnga-Lawrence nullifying the Special Convention that brought him to the chairmanship.
Chairman Bility claims that Political Leader Karnga-Lawrence and some officials of the party remain suspended for defaulting on their due payment, while Karnga-Lawrence, too, claims that Bility, by virtue of her nullification of the January convention, is no longer Chairman of the party. However, a portion of this argument, specifically with the nullification of the convention, has been laid to rest by the NEC, while the argument of the Political Leader’s suspension still lingers in the court of public opinion.
In her Saturday press conference, Senator Karnga-Lawrence told the LP gathering that they had withdrawn the 2021 revised LP constitution submitted with the NEC and replaced same with the 2015 version, thus returning to status quo ante.
But in a letter addressed to Senator Karnga-Lawrence, dated December 13, 2021 and signed by Co-Chairperson Cllr. P. Teplah Reeves, the NEC said, “Having reviewed our records, Madam Senator, I would like to take this time to reiterate the Commission’s earlier statement to the LP that its 2021 notarized constitution submitted to the Commission is deemed proper and remains as such until successfully challenged in keeping with due process or via amendment by the party.”
According to NEC, in keeping with the practice and procedure at the NEC, when a party, especially through its Chairperson and/or Secretary General, submits a notarized document such as a constitution to the Commission, the general presumption is that the said document is proper and remains as such until successfully challenged in keeping with due process or amended by the party.
Upon receiving the courtesy copy of the letter, Chairman Bility called a press conference yesterday and provided the update to the press, and reaffirmed that the suspended officials remained suspended until they can settle their due payments.
He informed newsmen that the Liberty Party is going to a special convention on Friday, and there their internal matter will be settled. According to him, the delegates of the Gbarnga Convention in January 2021 will be the same delegates to attend the Friday convention, except that all those the Constitution axed as “partisans not in good standing” will not be allowed until they can make good their financial standings.
He explained that it was neither him nor the Executive Committee that suspended the officials; rather, the constitution, referencing Article 9 of the Liberty Party constitution.
What is not certain is whether or not the NEC will honor the upcoming special convention of the LP, as it may be held without the presence of its Political Leader and a number of senior executives, including Senator Abe Darius Dillon, Senator Steve Zargo, Representative Hans Barchue, among others.
In fact, prior to the NEC communication yesterday, Senator Steve Zargo had officially accepted and claimed the chairmanship of the party, as he was the one who occupied the position before the January Special Convention, and for the fact that the convention was nullified by Senator Karnga-Lawrence and the party reversed to status quo ante he was now the chairman again.
Unfortunately, the NEC communication came just in time before Bility’s called-for special convention, stripping Senator Zargo of all his claim to the chairmanship and left to wonder whether Bility’s decision is legitimate or not.
Meanwhile, Senator Karnga-Lawrence is yet to react to the National Elections Commission’s communication addressed to her, as the battle within the LP rages on.