How Pantami Won Primary, Retained PDP Ticket

Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, has emerged as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2027 governorship election across 11 local governments of Gombe State.

Pantami defeated two other aspirants, Usman Aliyu Garry and Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, in the rerun governorship primary conducted by the party on Tuesday.

Announcing the results at the Gombe State PDP Secretariat, the Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Temnung Shekarau, said Pantami polled 2,555 votes to defeat Garry, who scored 112 votes, while Mailantarki secured 389 votes.

The rerun followed a September 24 judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe, which nullified the process that had earlier produced Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate and ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary in accordance with its constitution.

Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed delivered the judgment following legal challenges by two other PDP governorship aspirants, Garry and Mailantarki.

Pantami had initially emerged as the PDP’s candidate through a voice affirmation during the party’s May 26 governorship primary. His emergence came after he left the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he had earlier sought the governorship ticket, following the emergence of Jamilu Gwamna as the party’s consensus candidate.