The Independent National Electoral Commission has omitted the names of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Gombe State, Prof. Isa Pantami, and his running mate from its final list of candidates published on Saturday.
The list, signed by INEC Secretary, Rose Anthony, contains the names of governorship candidates and their running mates for the A, AAC, ADC, ADP, APC, APM, APP, DLA, LP, NDC, NDP, NNPP, NRM, PRP, SDP and ZLP political parties.
The omission comes amid a legal dispute over the PDP’s process of selecting its candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
Recall that the Federal High Court No. 1, sitting in Gombe State, had nullified Pantami’s earlier emergence as the party’s candidate and ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh governorship primary.
Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit filed by Usman Aliyu Garry, who challenged the process through which Pantami emerged as the party’s candidate.
Garry argued that the PDP failed to conduct a valid governorship primary before announcing Pantami as its candidate on June 26, 2026.
The plaintiff also contended that the party’s adoption of Pantami without conducting the required primary violated its guidelines and applicable electoral laws.
Pantami had initially emerged as the PDP candidate ahead of other aspirants, including Abdulkadir Sale, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Monica Kaltho.
In her judgment, Justice Mohammed directed the party to conduct a fresh primary in compliance with its guidelines and relevant electoral laws, effectively setting aside Pantami’s emergence through the earlier process.
Following the ruling, the PDP conducted a repeat governorship primary on Tuesday across the 114 wards in Gombe State’s 11 local government areas.
Pantami won the rerun with 2,024 votes, defeating former member of the House of Representatives, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, who polled 389 votes, and former member of the Gombe State House of Assembly, Usman Aliyu Garry, who scored 112 votes.
Announcing the results at the PDP state secretariat in Gombe on Tuesday evening, the chairman of the party’s National Primary Election Committee, 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 participating wards across the state were collated.
The outcome positioned Pantami as the PDP’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election, subject to compliance with applicable electoral requirements and the resolution of any outstanding legal issues.
However, the omission of Pantami and his running mate from INEC’s latest list raises further questions about the status of the party’s nomination and the commission’s position on the candidates.
The circumstances surrounding the omission were not stated in the information available for this report.
Pantami’s camp urges calm as INEC omits PDP candidate from Gombe list
The spokesperson for the Pantamiyya Movement, Professor Suleiman Mohammed, has urged supporters of former Communications Minister, Professor Isa Pantami, to remain calm following the omission of his name and the Peoples Democratic Party from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s list of governorship candidates in Gombe State.
Mohammed described the development as a temporary challenge in a statement shared by Pantami on his Facebook account, assuring supporters that the omission should not be interpreted as a final decision on the former minister’s political future.
He called on members of the PDP and the Pantamiyya Movement to remain hopeful and focused as the electoral process continues.
“This is a temporary challenge and a normal part of the electoral process, not a final determination, in sha Allah,” the statement read.
The statement disclosed that Pantami’s camp was aware that his name was missing from the commission’s published list, despite his emergence as the PDP governorship candidate in a fresh primary election held on September 29.
The fresh primary followed an order by the Federal High Court in Gombe, which necessitated another exercise to determine the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
While the names of candidates from several other political parties appeared on the list, Pantami and the PDP were conspicuously absent.
The statement, however, did not indicate the specific steps the party or the candidate’s camp would take to address the omission.