Pantami clinches Gombe PDP governorship ticket after dumping APC

The immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Gombe State ahead of the 2027 elections.

Pantami was selected through voice affirmation during the party’s primary election held on Tuesday in Gombe.

The process took place at a venue in the state capital where party stakeholders endorsed him as the flagbearer.

He was subsequently declared the sole aspirant by the Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Gregory Yenlong.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters in a video circulating online and posted by Nigerian Affairs Journal, Yenlong said, “I declare Prof. Isa Aliu Pantami the duly elected and sole gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in the state.”

After his emergence, Pantami said he joined the race to offer service to the people of the state.

He pledged that, if elected in 2027, he would govern with fairness and justice.

He said, “I contested for the seat to offer service to the people of the state. If I am elected, I promise that my administration will prioritise equity and good governance.”

Pantami is expected to face the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Jamilu Gwamna, in the 2027 election in Gombe State.

PidomNigeria Online reported that last Tuesday, the former minister withdrew from APC governorship primary election in Gombe State, citing alleged violations of the Electoral Act 2026 and irregularities in the party’s electoral process.

He had opposed the consensus process that produced Gwamna.

However, following the APC primaries, four PDP governorship aspirants raised concerns over what they described as attempts to bring Pantami into the PDP governorship race.

In a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting on Sunday in Gombe, the aspirants — Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs Monica Kaltho — said the law did not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and subsequently contest the same election after votes had already been cast and counted in his favour in another party’s primaries.

The aspirants said they welcomed all well-meaning individuals into the PDP but strongly objected to any attempt to involve a person who had already participated in another party’s primaries.