THE Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Adamawa State, Umar Mustapha, has announced his withdrawal from the race to support the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aishatu Ahmad Binani.
A few days to the presidential election, Mustapha had accused the LP of working against him, ditching its presidential candidate, Peter Obi and calling on his supporters to work for the then APC standard bearer, Bola Ahmad Tinubu instead.
Addressing an APC stakeholders meeting on Sunday, Mustapha also known as Otumba, said he had finally decided to step down for Binani, with whom he said he shared the same passion for service to the people, in order to increase her chances.
“I Umar Mustapha Otumba, the governorship candidate of Labour Party have withdrawn from the governorship contest to support Senator Aishatu Ahmed Binani. Both of us realise that we have the same goal and that some people are happy we are going to split our votes.
“Now we have teamed up and I am calling on my supporters, young and old, male and female to come out en mass on the 11th of March and vote for Aishatu Ahmad Binani for governorship,“ he stated.
In her response, Binani lauded the step taken by the LP candidate as courageous and progressive, calling on candidates of other political parties to learn from him.
Mustapha was defeated by Binani at the APC primary election alongside four other male aspirants before he joined the LP and became its governorship candidate.
