By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

YOLA—A major contender in Adamawa governorship election, Dr Mohammed Modibbo, yesterday, dispelled rumours that he had stepped down from the governorship race for the state Acting Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri.

Dr. Modibbo, who is the former Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, is one of the Peoples Democratic Party aspirants for the October 11 governorship election cleared by the party to vie for the ticket.

Speculations had been rife in the state that Modibbo, who is a strong contender in the race, had stepped down for Fintiri, who got the nod only on Sunday to vie for the ticket after being disqualified earlier on Saturday.

Modibbo said in a statement by his Media Assistant, Julius Toba, that he was in the race and the candidate to beat and could not have withdrawn for anybody, describing the false information as cheap propaganda by those afraid of him.

While calling on his teeming supporters to disregard the rumour, Modibbo described the latest action of his opponents as a deliberate attempt to misinform the people of the state so as to give them unmerited advantage in the race.

He confirmed that at no time did he sit down at any meeting to discuss consensus candidature with either Fintiri or any politician in Adamawa and gave the assurance that as a mature politician he would continue to chart his own course.

While urging his supporters to ignore the rumour, he pleaded with them to go out to cast their votes for popular delegates who will represent their collective interest at the primaries election scheduled for September 6th, 2014.