Pantami Wins Fresh Gombe PDP Governorship Primary, Returns As 2027 Candidate
Reloaded News Desk
Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has won the Peoples Democratic Party’s fresh governorship primary in Gombe State, securing the party’s ticket for the 2027 governorship election.
Pantami defeated Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry in the court-ordered rerun conducted across the 11 local government areas of the state on Tuesday, September 29.
Reported final figures put Pantami on 2,054 votes, against 389 votes for Mailantarki and 112 votes for Garry, from 2,555 registered voters.
The fresh exercise became necessary after the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe nullified the earlier PDP governorship primary that had produced Pantami.
In its September 24 judgment, the court ordered the PDP to conduct another governorship primary in accordance with the party’s constitution, guidelines and applicable electoral laws.
The earlier process had produced Pantami through voice affirmation after he joined the PDP following his withdrawal from the APC governorship contest.
Usman Garry subsequently challenged the process, arguing that the primary was not validly conducted and that eligible aspirants had been excluded.
The Federal High Court consequently set aside the earlier primary and ordered a fresh exercise.
The PDP subsequently cleared Pantami, Mailantarki and Garry to participate in the rerun.
Gombe PDP had said the fresh primary would be conducted in compliance with the court judgment, while the party also rejected claims that Pantami had been barred from participating.
The rerun now gives Pantami another PDP mandate after the court invalidated the process through which he initially emerged.
However, the wider legal questions surrounding his candidacy may not end with Tuesday’s primary, as challenges relating to the conduct of the process and the application of electoral-law provisions remain capable of generating further litigation.
For now, the fresh primary has produced Pantami as the PDP’s Gombe governorship candidate for 2027.
Reloaded News — NEWS THAT INFORMS. MEDIA THAT TRANSFORMS
