Yobe East senator, Mustapha Musa, has withdrawn from the re-election race and endorsed Governor Mai Mala Buni to succeed him in the National Assembly.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Musa said, “To exercise the spirit of integrity and responsibility, I hereby formally withdraw from the contest for the APC governorship ticket. Additionally, to make it explicitly clear, I am not contesting the senatorial ticket; rather, I will fully support our leader, His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, to contest the senatorial seat.”

Mr Musa said he made the decision after a meeting of the Yobe APC Critical Stakeholders’ Forum, convened by the governor and police affairs minister Ibrahim Gaidam, last Thursday, at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Damaturu, where all in attendance unanimously agreed to support anyone party leaders pick as their preferred governorship candidate.

Mr Musa thanked Messrs Buni and Geidam for their “mentorship and sustained support”, which has helped him in his former roles as executive secretary of the Yobe State Scholarship Board and a two-time commissioner, before becoming a senator.

Asking his supporters to stop circulating his campaign materials, the senator also congratulated former secretary to the state government, Baba Mallam Wali, for emerging as the party’s preferred governorship candidate.