Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, on Tuesday emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2027 election in Gombe State.
Pantami secured 2,024 votes to defeat his two challengers, former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, who polled 389 votes, and former member of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry, who scored 112 votes.
The repeat primary was conducted on Tuesday across the 114 wards in the state’s 11 Local Government Areas following the nullification of the party’s earlier governorship primary by the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe.
The court, presided over by Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed, had ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh governorship primary after Garry challenged the process that produced Pantami as the party’s candidate.
The May 26 primary had been nullified by the court on September 24, with the judge directing the party to conduct another exercise in accordance with its guidelines and applicable electoral provisions.
The PDP subsequently cleared Pantami, Mailantarki and Garry to participate in the repeat primary and fixed September 29 for the exercise.
Announcing the results at the Gombe State PDP Secretariat on Tuesday evening, Chairman of the Primary Election Committee from the PDP National Headquarters, Abuja, Hon. Johnbull Shekarau, commended party members and stakeholders for what he described as the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
Shekarau declared Pantami the winner after the results from the participating wards across the state were collated.
The outcome gives Pantami the PDP ticket for the 2027 governorship election, although the nomination remains subject to applicable electoral and legal processes.
The fresh primary followed the court’s decision to set aside Pantami’s earlier emergence through the May exercise. The court’s ruling had also prompted the PDP to reopen the contest to the three aspirants cleared to participate in the repeat primary.