The head of Liberia’s anti-corruption Commission, Nigerian-born Ndubusi Nwabudike has resigned, the government has said, amid allegations that he obtained his citizenship of the West African state illegally.
President George Weah appointed Nwabudike, a naturalised Liberian citizen of Nigerian origin, as the chair of the country’s anti-corruption Commission in 2019.
But immediately he was appointed, the Liberia National Bar Association launched investigations into the authenticity of the citizenship of Nwabudike, accusing him of obtaining his citizenship illegally.
Bu the Nigerian-born lawyer petitioned the Civil Law Court for a declaratory judgment on his Liberian citizenship, a declaration that would enable him to enable him to continue the practice law freely in Liberia.
Liberian law restricts the practice of law to only citizens and Liberian Senators raised doubts during Nwabudike’s confirmation hearing on the authenticity of his citizenship.
Nwabudike’s certificate of citizenship was issued on May 13, 1982 by the Peoples’ Court, now called Criminal Court B, before the formation of the Peoples’ Redemption Council government and prior to the adoption of the 1986 constitution.
Nwabudike argued that during this tumultuous period in the nation’s history, the 1847 constitution of Liberia was suspended by the military junta until 1986 when the new constitution still in use was adopted.
But the Criminal Court B said it has no document in its archives that proves that Nwabudike is a naturalized Liberian citizen. But it is not clear whether the Court lost documents during the country’s prolonged civil crisis or event if documents from the predecessor court were transferred over.
However, political opponents of the footballer-turned-President Weah latched on the controversy and used it to disrupt the work of the anti-corruption agency.
The Supreme Court later confirmed that Nwabudike had obtained his citizenship properly.
But in resigning his appointment, he said: “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.”
Before the appointment, Nwabudike had served as a graft investigator in the nation of about 5 million people before Weah appointed him to his role.
Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world, is still recovering after back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 and West Africa’s 2014-16 Ebola crisis.
