Liberia’s Anti-Corruption chief resigns over nationality scandal

The head of Liberia’s anti-corruption commission has resigned, the government said on Tuesday, amid allegations that he obtained his citizenship of the West African state illegally.

President George Weah appointed Ndubusi Nwabudike, a naturalised Liberian citizen of Nigerian origin, as the chair of the country’s anti-corruption commission in 2019.

There are reports that his parents are from Delta State in Nigeria but political opponents of the footballer-turned-president began to question whether Nwabudike obtained his citizenship legally after Weah nominated him as chairman of the election commission last year.

The Supreme Court later confirmed that he had obtained his citizenship properly.

On Tuesday however the government published a statement declaring that Nwabudike had nonetheless offered his resignation, which will take effect on February 26.

“It does not serve the overall strategic interest of your government and our people if I were to constitute a distraction from the national agenda that your government is poised to deliver to our people,” Nwabudike was quoted in the statement as saying.

The anti-corruption chief is a lawyer by training who had served as a graft investigator in the nation of about 5 million people before Weah appointed him to his role.

Voters in Liberia went to the polls in December in an election that occurred alongside a referendum on reducing presidential terms and allowing dual nationality.

The final results have still not been published, however, with votes in some areas of the country delayed because of violence and allegations of fraud.