Four governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have rejected an alleged move to bring in former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, into the party’s governorship primary race ahead of the 2027 elections.
The aspirants, Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs. Monica Kaltho, made their position known in a communique issued after an emergency meeting held on Sunday in Gombe.
They said there were plans to “smuggle” Pantami into the PDP after he had already participated in the governorship primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, on May 21, 2026.
The aspirants argued that the Electoral Act and democratic principles do not allow an aspirant to defect from one political party to another and still participate in the same electoral process after already contesting and winning votes in another party’s primaries, the communiqué said.
“We deem it necessary to make our position known 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,” the communiqué stated.
The aspirants stated that they “condemn in the strongest terms” any alleged attempt to allow Pantami to take part in the PDP governorship primary, saying that such a move could expose the party to avoidable legal battles.
They also cautioned that any move that could undermine the rule of law could invite litigation from aggrieved party members and opposition parties.
The communiqué also disclosed that the four aspirants had unanimously agreed to allow the PDP leadership in Gombe to select one from among them as the party’s consensus candidate for the governorship election.
They said the decision was taken out of respect for party leadership, especially for the former Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, whom they described as the leader of the party in the state, as well as the PDP structure in the 11 local government areas and the party elders committee.
The aspirants, while reiterating that the PDP remains open to new members, said they are strongly opposed to the inclusion of anyone who had already taken part in another party’s governorship primary.
“We welcome every well-meaning individual into the PDP but we are strongly opposed to any attempt to drag such a person into the ongoing PDP gubernatorial primaries which has reached an advanced stage,” the communiqué added.
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