As Liberia heads to a closely contested runoff election, the possibilities are decidedly limited. 

Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, set to step down after two terms as president, was last week awarded the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.

Last week, the Liberian Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of a lower court which ordered the imprisonment of former Liberian Defense Minister Brownie Jeffrey Samukai Jr., for two years. A one-time deputy minister in the country’s Ministry of National Defense, Samukai was former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s pick to head the ministry when the latter took over the reins as president in January 2006.