Somali Minister of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing Sadaq Abdullahi Abdi HAS stepped down from contesting the Lower Juba parliamentary seat.
The election is scheduled to be held in Kismayo the administrative capital of Jubbaland state on Thursday.
The seat was left vacant after youthful MP Abas Siraji died in May 2017 when bodyguards to a top government official sprayed bullets on his car near the Villa Somalia.
Mohamud Siraji a brother to slained MP Abas is in the race for the seat.
Sources told Radio Dalsan that Minister Abdi step down from the race due to pressure from the government.
