Faroole bows out as candidates work out the numbers less than 24 hours to poll

Presidential candidate and senator Abdirahman Faroole has dropped from the presidential race barely 24 hours into the vote adding to two the number of hopefuls to bolt out as candidates’ balancing of the numbers hit a homestretch.

Faroole who had to wrestle with among them Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and Abdullahi Farmaajo at the home front-Puntland before angling for the national vote bowed out Tuesday afternoon in a veiled move at throwing his weight behind incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

“After consulting with the Mogadishu administration and candidates among them Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, I have decided to drop out of them race,” said Faroole.

The former president of Puntland also called on other presidential candidates to consider dropping out of the race over what he termed as need for change in the country. He accused regional presidents for their outright support of certain candidates while cautioning MPs against taking bribes during tomorrow’s vote.

Faroole’s exit now leaves 22 candidates in the ballot after another candidate Abdullahi Ali Hassan announced his withdrawal Saturday.

A winning candidate in the first round will require at least 219 votes which will largely be a tall order since the vote will be split among several key candidates.