IPNEWS: It seems that the bad blood between former vice president Joseph Boakai and some close allies, particularly popular talk show host Henry Pedro Costa, has deepened without sign of reconciliation anytime sooner.

The authoritative Independent Probe Newspaper has gathered that there is an intense behind the scenes lobby between Cllr. Tiawon S. Gongole and Henry Costa for a joint ticket that is set to shock many across Liberia.

According to sources close to the pair, as part of the deal for a Gongole-Costa ticket, the Liberia Peoples Party, and the All-Liberian Party are currently in negotiation to seal a collaboration between the two-opposition political party that is expected to be announced shortly.

Henry Costa whose podcast ‘Man Can’t Talk All’, that when viral, has taken the back bench from his long-time ally Unity Party standard bearer Joseph N. Boakai following a pick of Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Koung, as vice standard bearer on April 28, 2023.

In a podcast a day before Jeremiah Koung’s pick by Joseph Boakai, Henry Pedro Costa vowed to move away from the so-called opposition in chartering a new course after an assessment proved that many within the opposition opposed him out of envy.

Costa stated that regardless of all he has contributed to consolidating the opposition over the last five years, including putting his life and businesses on the line, yet there were some within the opposition who continued to resist him.

In March 2023, Liberians and foreign residents were awakened to a video attributed to one of Liberia’s popular talk show hosts, Henry Petro Costa, trending on his social media page.  Costa can be seen in the podcast dramatically gesturing and saying “Man Can’t Tall All….” Projecting his quest to become a running mate to the political leader of the former ruling Unity Party (UP), Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai; this slogan has gone wild on social media amongst Liberians and is now the ‘Talk of the town’.

Mr. Costa speaking further on his show bragged, that he is more popular amongst Liberians than any other individual who may be perceived to be a running mate to the Unity Party political leader during the scheduled October 10 polls.

Costa’s jargon, “Man Can’t Talk All…” has fascinated many Liberians who have in return posted on their respective social media pages wondering as to what Costa was referring to, and who was he talking about, in the face of his seemingly vaulting ambition to become a running mate to the Unity Party political leader.

However, many think Costa’s podcast was a direct preempt strike to prevent the picking of Nimba County Senator Jeremiah Kpan Koung as Vice standard bearer to former Vice President Boakai for the forthcoming October 10 general Legislative and presidential elections.

Costa maintained that he is more popular and qualified to become a running mate to the UP-Standard Bearer, noting that he is more preferred by many Liberians than Senator Jeremiah Koung.

Evident by his podcast, Henry Costa and the Leader of the opposition All Liberian Party, Benoni Urey boycotted Joseph Boakai’s vice standard bearer naming ceremony.

Since April 28, both Urey and Costa have played a low profile on the political scene, including their absence from Sunday’s endorsement ceremony by Grand Bassa Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence for the Boakai-Koung ticket held on the grounds of the fairground in Buchanan City, Grand Bassa county.

Last week, Senator Jeremiah Koung came under sustained criticism from Cllr Taiwon Saye Gongloe, standard Bearer Liberian People’s Party, over a statement that he would support the setting up of the War and Economic Crimes court following a victory in October 2023.

Gongloe said there was no public record of Senator Johnson and Mr. Koung sharing the same thoughts regarding the call for Liberia to establish a war crimes court.

“Koung’s statement is not just a deception, but a call to blindfold the electorate to buy into their deception and falsehood to later treat them as they have been treated by President Weah,”

“There is no guarantee that Senator Koung will support a war and economic crimes court when he has no record of supporting it in the past. We can’t trust him even when his political godfather consistently frowns on people that call for the court,” Cllr. Tiawon Gongloe contended.

Mr. Koung is the political leader of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction (MDR), founded by former Liberian warlord, now Nimba Senator, Prince Y. Johnson.

The campaign to establish a war and economic crimes court often irritates Senator Johnson, notorious for overseeing the brutal murder of then-sitting President Samuel Kanyon Doe during the civil war.