Court Sacks Pantami as Gombe PDP Governorship Candidate, Orders Fresh Primary 

Court Sacks Pantami as Gombe PDP Governorship Candidate, Orders Fresh Primary – Emmanuel Ferdinand

A Federal High Court sitting in Gombe State has nullified the emergence of Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami as the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election and ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary.

Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed delivered the judgment on Thursday, September 24, 2026, in a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry, a PDP governorship aspirant who challenged the process that produced Pantami as the party’s candidate.

Garry had argued that the process used by the PDP to produce Pantami did not amount to a valid governorship primary and did not comply with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral requirements.

In its judgment, the court directed the PDP to return to the primary election process and conduct a fresh exercise in accordance with its rules and applicable electoral laws.

Pantami had joined the PDP earlier this year after leaving the All Progressives Congress, where he had sought the party’s governorship ticket in Gombe State.

His bid for the APC ticket was unsuccessful after the party settled on Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna as its candidate. Pantami subsequently left the party and joined the PDP.

He later emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate through a voice affirmation at a primary held on May 26. The party subsequently announced him as its sole governorship candidate on June 26.

His emergence, however, was challenged by other members of the PDP who had expressed interest in the governorship ticket.

Garry took the matter to court, arguing that the party had not conducted a valid primary before announcing Pantami as its candidate. Pantami and the PDP opposed the suit and defended the process that produced him as the party’s candidate.

The court had earlier heard arguments from the parties before reserving judgment.

The dispute over Pantami’s candidacy also involved other PDP aspirants. Reports from the earlier proceedings identified Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh and Monica Kaltho among those who had raised objections to the circumstances surrounding Pantami’s emergence.

Mailantarki also challenged Pantami’s emergence in a separate court action, with the dispute focusing on the circumstances surrounding Pantami’s movement from the APC to the PDP and his participation in the party’s governorship process.

The latest judgment has reopened the PDP’s governorship nomination process in Gombe State. The party will now have to organise a fresh primary to determine its candidate for the 2027 governorship election.