Liberian President George Weah conceded defeat to opposition leader Joseph Boakai after a tight runoff election, provisional results Friday showed.

Boakai led with a razor-thin margin, having received 50.9% of the vote over Weah's 49.1% with nearly all the votes counted, the country's elections commission said.

The results were a dramatic reversal from the 2017 election when Weah, a 57-year-old former soccer star, easily beat Boakai in the second round.

Boakai, 78, is a former vice president and a career politician. He emerged neck-and-neck with Weah in the first round of voting in October.

But he failed to secure 50% of the vote needed for an outright victory, leading to Tuesday's run-off election.

Weah concedes defeat in speech, Boakai supporters celebrate win

"The Liberian people have spoken and we have heard their voice," Weah said in an address to the nation, adding that Boakai "is in a lead that we cannot surpass."

"I urge you to follow my example and accept the result of the elections," he said in the speech even before the provisional results were announced, adding that "our time will come again" in 2029.

The concession speech paved the way for Liberia's second democratic transfer of power in over seven decades —  the first was when Weah swept to power six years ago.

The US congratulated "Boakai on his victory and President Weah for his peaceful acceptance of the results" State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

"We call on all citizens to follow President Weah's example and accept the results,"  Miller said.

We have a job to do, Boakai says

"We have a job ahead of us to do and I'm excited that the citizens have given us approval," Boakai told Reuters news agency shortly after the results were announced. 

"First and foremost, we want to have a message of peace and reconciliation," he added.

Boakai supporters in the capital, Monrovia, danced and honked car horns in the rain after the near-final results were announced.

The election was widely seen as a test of democracy in a region that has seen a spate of military coups over the last several years. 

rm/sms (Reuters, AP)