Gombe PDP candidates protest Pantami’s alleged bid for the governorship race

Four Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirants in Gombe State have publicly rejected an alleged effort to introduce former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami into the party’s 2027 governorship primary.

The aspirants—Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs. Monica Kaltho—expressed their stance in a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting held on Sunday in Gombe.

They claim that plans were made to “smuggle” Pantami into the PDP after he had already contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries on 21 May 2026.

According to the communiqué, the aspirants argue that the Electoral Act and democratic principles forbid an aspirant from defecting from one party to another and then participating in the same electoral process after having already contested and received votes in another party’s primaries.

“Following the rumoured attempt by an aspirant, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, who participated in the recently concluded governorship primaries of the APC, to defect to the PDP with the sole aim of contesting in our party’s governorship primaries, we deem it necessary to make our position known,” the communiqué states.

The aspirants “condemn in the strongest terms” any alleged attempt to allow Pantami to participate in the PDP governorship primary, insisting that such a move could expose the party to avoidable legal battles.

They warned that any action undermining the rule of law could trigger litigation from aggrieved party members and opposition parties.

The communiqué also revealed that the four aspirants had unanimously agreed to allow the PDP leadership in Gombe to select one of them as the party’s consensus candidate for the governorship election.

They said the decision was reached out of respect for the party leadership, particularly former Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, whom they described as the leader of the party in the state, as well as the PDP structure across the 11 local government areas and the party’s elders committee.

While reiterating that the PDP remains open to new members, the aspirants maintain that they strongly oppose the inclusion of anyone who has already taken part in another party’s governorship primary.

“While we welcome every well‑meaning individual into the PDP, we strongly object to any attempt to involve such a person in the ongoing PDP gubernatorial primaries, which have already reached an advanced stage,” the communiqué added.