The immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has joined the Peoples Democratic Party and emerged as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election in Gombe State.
Pantami secured the ticket through voice affirmation during the PDP governorship primary held on Tuesday in Gombe.
He was presented as the sole aspirant by the Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Hon. Gregory Yenlong, who announced that Pantami polled a total of 52,955 votes across the three senatorial districts of the state.
According to Yenlong, Pantami secured 16,781 votes in Gombe North, 12,752 votes in Gombe Central and 23,422 votes in Gombe South.
“Therefore, by the guidelines of this election, it is my singular honour and privilege, members of the PDP, our elders, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who is therefore presented to you for affirmation,” Yenlong said.
Following the announcement, Sambo Sa’adu moved a motion for the adoption and affirmation of Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate. The motion was seconded by Bulus Maikori, after which party stakeholders affirmed him as the flagbearer.
Speaking shortly after his emergence, Pantami said he joined the race to serve the people of Gombe State, pledging to govern with fairness and justice if elected in 2027.
Pantami will now face Jamilu Gwamna, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, in the 2027 election.
Before joining the PDP, Pantami had criticised the process that produced Gwamna as the APC consensus candidate. The former minister had demanded direct primaries but later withdrew from the APC governorship race on the eve of the exercise, alleging lack of transparency.
His emergence in the PDP had earlier generated controversy after four governorship aspirants of the party raised concerns over alleged moves to bring him into the race after his participation in the APC process.
The aspirants, Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs Monica Kaltho, issued a communique after an emergency meeting in Gombe, saying they welcomed new members into the PDP but objected to any attempt to allow a person who had participated in another party’s primary process to contest under the PDP.
They argued that the law did not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and subsequently participate in the same election process after votes had already been cast and counted in his favour in another party’s primaries.
Despite the objections, PDP stakeholders on Tuesday adopted Pantami as the party’s candidate, setting the stage for a contest between him and Gwamna in the 2027 Gombe governorship election.
