MONROVIA – Unimpeachable sources in the corridors of the Executive Mansion have confided in The Liberian Post that the President’s axe is soon to fall on the Chairman of the National Investment Commission (NIC), Mr. Jeff B. Blibo.
Jeff committed an unforgivable sin when he unilaterally wrote a letter against the interests of Ivanhoe Atlantic Liberia, which is negotiating with the Government of Liberia over the use of the railway from the mountains of Nimba to the port of Buchanan on the Atlantic Ocean. In Jeff’s letter, he committed exclusively a 100% right of usage of the railway to ArcelorMittal Liberia, which has invested millions of dollars on the rail’s renovation. Jeff informed ArcelorMittal Liberia and Ivanhoe Atlantic, that the Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee (IMCC) had “unanimously decided” to grant AML continued operational control over the Yekepa-to-Buchanan railway for an additional 25 years. This didn’t go down well with Jeff’s other colleagues in the IMCC, including the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of State, and the Sector-specific Ministry/Agency/Commission (Ministry of Agriculture for agriculture-related projects, Ministry of Lands & Mines for mining and energy-related projects, etc).
Ivanhoe Atlantic is a subsidiary of High-Power Exploration (HPX), owned by Robert Friedland. HPX is a US firm. Ivanhoe had proposed the $5 billion Liberty Corridor project to enhance regional transportation and mining logistics.
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in October 2024 issued Executive Order #136 in which he spoke of “multi-user rail regime.”
“Liberia would adopt a Multi-user rail regime, with infrastructure owned by the state, governed by the National Railway Authority (NRA), and operated independently of an infrastructure user, to allow all railing concession companies to use the Liberia’s railroads line.” Executive Order #136 raised the hope of concession companies engaging in railing in Liberia, encouraging them to increase their investment and production capacity, with the believe that there will be a “Multi-user rail regime”.
But our Executive Mansion sources said that Jeff, as he is famously referred to, without consulting with the President or his colleagues in the Inter-Ministerial Concession Committee (IMCC), wrote and designated ArcelorMittal Liberia as the operator of the existing Yekepa-Buchanan Railway Line. When this came to the President’s attention, he immediately reversed Jeff’s action and promised a stern repercussion against him and everyone else involved.
Our sources further said that on Tuesday, May 6, the President called an emergency meeting in which he was pissed at Jeff. It is said that he scolded Jeff for gross insubordination and disregard for his Office.
“Jeff was asked why he wrote the letter. He was very visibly embarrassed and ashamed. He said the letter wasn’t intended to be sent out. What a lie! Because the letter was eventually sent to AML,” one of the sources said.
He wrote the letter and didn’t clear it with the Office of the President and or the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs.
In the emergency meeting, were the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Liberia Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and the Ministry of Mines and Energy. “Of course, Jeff or the NIC was present,” another of our sources added.
Was He Bribed?
Our sources said the Mansion has heard that Jeff was “heftily bribed”. This source didn’t say by whom neither did they say how much exchanged hands. Another of the source said that they had heard that he was compromised by AML. But of these allegations are yet to be proven against Jeff or AML.
Jeff Angers the Americans
The Investment Commission Chairman didn’t only anger his boss, President Boakai, but also the Americans who have vested interests in the multi-users arrangement of the rail.
If bribe were involved Jeff risks being placed on sanction by the US Government’s Treasury Department. At the moment, the US has imposed Global Magnitsky sanctions on several Liberian former and present senior government officials for public corruption. These sanctions, implemented under Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, target individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses and corruption. Some of those designated for sanction by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) include Margibi County Senators Nathaniel F. McGill and Emmanuel Nuquay, Rivercess County Senator Bill Twehway and former Solicitor General Sayma Syrenius Cephus.
Before Jeff wrote his letter, President Donald Trump’s Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, through the US Embassy, in April 2025, praised President Boakai for making progress in establishing a multi-user railway.
“Reliable infrastructure is key to sustainable development. In Liberia, President Boakai is making progress in establishing a multi-user railway managed by an independent operator which will create new economic opportunities for Liberia’s people and attract U.S. investors. The U.S. endorses his initiative and urges all parties involved to make a deal quickly,” Boulos said.
Country First
Jeff’s disregard for the President’s Office comes at the time when most of the world is now moving with the mantra “Country First.” But the NIC Chairman totally ignored this and willfully awarded a priced national asset to a single company against the national interests of Liberia and her most important ally— the United States of America. By this, he has self-destroyed and made himself his own gallows.
