Professor Isa Ali Pantami, the immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has been elected as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Gombe State ahead of the 2027 elections.
Pantami secured the ticket through voice affirmation at the party’s primary election held on Tuesday in Gombe. The event, which took place at a designated venue in the state capital, saw party stakeholders unanimously endorse the former minister as their flagbearer.
The Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Gregory Yenlong, subsequently declared Pantami the sole aspirant. In a video circulating online and posted by Nigerian Affairs Journal, Yenlong announced: “I declare Prof. Isa Aliu Pantami the duly elected and sole gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in the state.”
Speaking to a crowd of supporters after his emergence, Pantami said his decision to join the race was driven by a desire to serve the people of Gombe State. He pledged that if elected in 2027, his administration would be guided by fairness and justice.
“I contested for the seat to offer service to the people of the state,” Pantami said. “If I am elected, I promise that my administration will prioritise equity and good governance.”
Pantami is expected to face the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Jamilu Gwamna, in the 2027 election.
Prior to his emergence as the PDP candidate, Pantami had withdrawn from the APC governorship primary in Gombe State, citing alleged violations of the Electoral Act and irregularities in the party’s electoral process. He had opposed the consensus arrangement that produced Gwamna as the APC candidate.
Following the APC primaries, four PDP governorship aspirants raised concerns over what they described as attempts to bring Pantami into the PDP 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—argued that the law does not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and contest the same election after votes had already been cast and counted in his favour in another party’s primary.
The aspirants stated that while they welcome all well-meaning individuals into the PDP, they strongly object to any attempt to involve a person who had already participated in another party’s primaries.