Thousands of citizens of Lower Margibi District #1 over the weekend petitioned former Minister of State Nathaniel McGill to contest the county's senatorial seat at the October 10 polls.
The citizens in their numbers gathered on the grounds of the Rock International Church at a well-planned ceremony graced by several local musical artists to read out their petition.
Their petition follows months of speculations and calls for the former Presidential Affairs Minister not to contest in the upcoming polls due to the US sanction hanging over his head.
The citizens in their petition which was read by Mr. Saidou Keita of the Duazon Public School acknowledged the contributions made by Mr. McGill towards both the education of young people in the county and his humanitarian gestures towards the needy.
While acknowledging the tasks and challenges ahead, Keita said citizens of the county believe that McGill is the right person to lead them because of his passion for ensuring that students become productive.
"Whereas, looking at your continuous support towards the educational system in Margibi County, especially the students, by identifying with the Principals and Teachers Association of Marshall Education District.
"Whereas your meaningful contributions to over 9,000 public school students and 2,000 private school students, and the exemplary character you possess as a district leader...
We the students, communities and first-time voters hereby petition you, Honorable Nathaniel Falo McGill, to contest the senatorial seat of Margibi County," Keita said.
Making remarks, a representative of at-risk youths in Margibi County, Mr. Obadiah Mayango, said one of the greatest challenges of the Weah-led government's first term has to do with young people and called on aspirant McGill to prioritize the plight of at-risk youths when he ascends to the senate seat after October 10, 2023.
There were also solidarity comments from other organizations within Margibi District #1 who acknowledged the contributions of McGill in their community and added their voices to the petition. These included motorcyclists, businessmen and women, and local Teachers' Associations.
Overwhelmed by the citizens' petition statement, McGill expressed thanks and gratitude saying, "I want to thank the citizens of District # 1. You did something that never happened in the history of Margibi. You were able to make sure that we registered 63,000 people, two times the number of any of the Districts in Margibi.
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He also commended the people for the unity and togetherness in the county, saying all Margibians are one.
"In Margibi, we have Kpelle people, Bassa, Kiss, Gbandi, Gola, Mano, Grebo, Gio people; we have all the tribes in Margibi. And therefore, Margibi belongs to everyone," he said.
However, he reminded the people of Margibi that the election had not started.
"I want to say to you Margibi, we have not started the elections. The campaign hasn't started. So, we have to be careful before we make campaign speeches; because I know the National Elections Commission is observing once we start to make campaign speeches.
This is not a campaign. This is an endorsement of my candidature. But we are marching to victory. We are marching to make Margibi a great county. Because gone are the days when students of Margibi cannot even benefit from their County Development Fund; when students are catching "hard time" and can't pay their school fees, and the leaders of Margibi cannot even think about how to help their students; when our poor parents in Margibi cannot afford, and our leaders in Margibi have abandoned to even give our people loan to do fire coal business. Those days are gone. We are about to make history and make Margibi great," McGill said in his acceptance speech.
He encouraged the citizens to look at the future of the country, adding that 2023 is an important year in the history of Liberia. "The future of our country is in your hands. We are marching towards development. The journey is going to be tough. But we have to look at what is best for us," he said.
