Isa Pantami Wins PDP Ticket for Gombe Governorship Race

Isa Pantami, a former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has secured the People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the 2027 Gombe State governorship race. In a rerun primary held across all 11 local government areas, Pantami polled 2,054 votes, defeating Khamisu Mailantarki, who received 389 votes, and Usman Garry, who garnered 112 votes.

The result was announced by Johnbull Shekarau, chairman of the PDP’s governorship primary election committee. The rerun was necessitated by the collapse of the first primary under legal scrutiny, which was nullified by the Federal High Court in Gombe on September 24, ordering fresh polling among the three cleared aspirants.

Pantami had initially sought the APC’s governorship ticket but withdrew after the party chose businessman Jamilu Gwamna through a consensus arrangement. His previous tenure as Minister included implementing the NIN-SIM linkage policy and overseeing Nigeria’s 5G rollout, amidst controversies regarding his past statements.

Mailantarki has rejected the rerun result, claiming Pantami is legally ineligible and has promised to challenge it in court.