By J. Ebenezer Daygbor
Credible sources are telling the Groove 106FM that former Senate Pro-Tempore Gbenzohngar Milton Findley is seemingly the last hope for Vice President Joseph Boakai’s pick for vice presidential running mate. The reports are yet to be independently confirmed but our sources say Boakai is proverbially on bended knees to win Findley’s approval.
Vice President Boakai has been vascilating from one potential vice presidential candidate to another with no result. The Vice President’s bid for President of Liberia is said to be experiencing shadow-waters with lukewarm support from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
In his search, Boakai reportedly turned down many partisans of the Unity Party. Some of those whose names popped up were Nimba Representative Richard Matenokay Tingban, former Public Works Minister Samuel Kofi Woods, and Internal Affairs Minister Henrique Tokpa.
Former Finance Minister of Liberia Antoinette Sayeh is said to have refused Veep Boakai’s offer of the vice presidential running mate position. Sayeh is now International Monetary Fund Executive. Others claimed it the Vice President did not entertain suggestions for Madam Sayeh to be his running mate.
Veep Boakai’s running mate hunt led him to House Speaker Emmanuel James Nuquay, but reports say the Speaker reportedly declined. The Speaker is said to have told Boakai he prefers the Speaker position at this time.
With limited time left for the National Elections Commission to close the door on selection of vice presidential candidates, Boakai is now pitched against the tide of time and reality. Unless he wins Findley’s heart and takes his hand in the marriage of convenience, the Vice President may wallop in a state of frustration and political pressure.
But Gbenzohngar Milton Findley, some say is not a very impressive pick if our sources are proven right. Findley lost his Grand Bassa senatorial seat and also fell from the throne as Pro-Tempore when little known political figure Jonathan Kaipee of Liberty Party upset him during the 2014 Special Senatorial Elections.
Liberians were shock to see Findley losing to Kaipee after President Sirleaf vigorously campaigned for him.
However, the former Pro-Tempore with all the resources available at his disposal and the influence of the President, lost the seat to opposition Liberty Party – a defeat that saw him lose his lucrative office as President Pro-Tempore of the Senate and Senator of Grand Bassa County.
Findley is currently chair of the Liberia Aviation Authority board. He recently paraded with Veep Boakai in the port city of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County as means of showing his numerical strengths.
