There was anxiety in political circles in Gombe as a Federal High Court yesterday nullified the emergence of Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state and ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary election.
Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed of the Federal High Court Gombe gave the order, Thursday, while delivering judgement in a suit challenging the process through which Pantami emerged as the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The suit was instituted by PDP governorship aspirants Khamisu Mailantarki and Usman Garry, who challenged the process by which Pantami was announced as the candidate of the party on June 26, 2026.
They argued that the PDP did not conduct a valid primary election in accordance with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral laws.
In her judgement, Justice Amina held that the process through which Pantami emerged did not satisfy the applicable legal and procedural requirements and consequently ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh governorship primary in accordance with its guidelines and relevant electoral laws.
The judge also noted that Mailantarki and Garry were not allowed to participate in the earlier primary despite having been screened and cleared as aspirants.
She further considered arguments based on provisions of the Electoral Act relating to direct primaries and consensus arrangements, noting that the requirements of the law had not been complied with in the process that produced Pantami as the party’s candidate.
Pantami, a renowned Islamic cleric and a former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, revalidated his electronic membership at Pantami Ward in Gombe metropolis, on February 4, 2026 on the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform, marking his formal entrance into partisan politics.
However, on May 3, few days to the scheduled primary election of the APC, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya and the party’s leader in the state announced Dr Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna as the APC’s consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election in the state.
A few hours after the governor’s announcement, Pantami, via a post on his verified Facebook page, rejected the adoption of Gwamna as the consensus candidate, describing the process that led to the emergence of Jamilu Gwamna as “coronation.”
A few days after the statement rejecting Gwamna as consensus candidate, on May 19, Prof. Pantami announced his withdrawal from the governorship race under the APC, over alleged violations of the Electoral Act 2026.
A statement issued by Barrister Ibrahim M. Attahir, posted on Pantami’s verified social media pages, said the governorship hopeful withdrew from the election scheduled for May 21, over the alleged violations and the party’s failure to provide a channel of communication and information essential for a credible contest.
After the APC primaries in which Pantami emerged as second behind Gwamma, there were speculations that he was defecting to the PDP; a development that triggered a joint press conference by four gubernatorial aspirants under the Peoples Democratic Party.
In a communique issued after an emergency meeting, the aspirants – Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs Monica Kaltho, rejected what they termed an alleged move to smuggle Prof. Pantami into the party by its leaders to contest the primary election under the PDP’s platform.
Despite the protest by the four PDP aspirants, on May 26 Pantami officially joined the PDP and emerged as its governorship candidate after securing affirmation from party delegates during the party’s primary election held that day.
Chairman of the PDP Electoral Committee Panel loyal to Nyesom Wike’s faction, Mr Gregory H. Yelong, said the affirmation process was conducted across the three senatorial districts in line with the party’s guidelines.
He said Pantami was the sole aspirant cleared for the exercise and received overwhelming support from delegates and party members across the state with Gombe North recording 16,781 votes, Gombe Central 12,752, while Gombe South returned 23,422 votes, bringing the total number of votes garnered by Pantami to 52,955.
Not satisfied with the outcome, three of the aspirants – Hamma Saleh, Aliyu Garry and Khamisu Mailantarki rejected Pantami’s emergence as the party’s governorship candidate.
They stated that the primary election which was earlier scheduled for May 24 was postponed to May 26, adding that they were surprised to learn that Pantami had emerged as the party’s candidate.
On July 2, a Federal High Court No. 1 sitting in Gombe, presided over by Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed, commenced hearing in the pre-election suit filed by one of the governorship aspirants under the PDP, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki.
Mailantarki also alleged that Pantami had pursued the same governorship ambition under the platform of the APC and was not a member of the PDP at the time the party reportedly adopted its consensus arrangement.
Consequently, he asked the court to nullify Pantami’s emergence and strike out his name as the PDP governorship candidate for Gombe State.
Also, Usman Garry approached the court challenging the emergence of Pantami as the PDP governorship, calling for the nullification of the primary election that produced him as the candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it has noted the judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe, which nullified the party’s Governorship Primary Election, saying that the party is ready to conduct a fresh process in line with the judgement.
Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, National Publicity Secretary of the party, said PDP, as a responsible and law abiding political party, is a strong respecter of the rule of law and the authority of the judiciary, adding that the party will carefully study the judgement and take immediate steps to ensure full compliance with the directives of the court.
The party spokesman said PDP will immediately commence the necessary processes towards the conduct of a fresh governorship primary in Gombe State in compliance with the judgement.
“The date, timetable and other details regarding the conduct of the fresh primary will be made available and communicated to all aspirants, stakeholders, party members and the general public as soon as the necessary arrangements are concluded.
Gombe State PDP Chairman, Maj-Gen. Abnom Kwaskebe (Rtd.), also said the party was satisfied with the decision and would comply with the court order.
He said the conduct of the primary was the responsibility of the party and that the PDP would correct the lapses identified in the judgement.
Both counsel to the plaintiffs, and defendant said they have accepted the verdict of the court.
Barr. Ibrahim Muhammad Attahir, the lead counsel to Prof. Pantami, said the legal team is satisfied with the judgement despite the order for a fresh primary.
Attahir, who said he led the team that represented Pantami in the three related cases, noted that the court rejected several of the reliefs sought by the opposing parties.
“We are happier than our adversaries on the other side of the dispute because most of the crucial reliefs they sought were not granted,” he said.
Counsel to Usman Garry, Barr. Adrian Chukwemeka Amadi, described the judgement as a victory for his client.
He said the judgement reaffirmed the principle that political parties must conduct their activities in accordance with the law.
Barr. Amadi said Garry had been screened and cleared to contest but was not allowed to participate in the earlier primary, adding that the fresh primary would now give his client an opportunity to participate in the process.
Commenting on the matter, a political analyst, Professor Babayo Sule, said even though the PDP had accepted the verdict and called for a fresh primary election, it will still be extremely difficult for the complainants to defeat Prof. Pantami.
Prof Sule added that, “in the event Pantami emerges again, there might be also other forces invisible like aggrieved people in the APC, like Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, who will want Pantami to secure the ticket and will throw their weight behind him for political vendetta against Inuwa, because obviously Pantmai seems to be the biggest threat to the APC’s candidate, Jamilu Gwamna.
Sule, however, said Pantami may still have other challenges even after securing the PDP’s ticket.
“Facing incumbency powers in Nigeria remains a formidable challenge no matter how strong and popular a candidate is. Secondly, he will lose the loyalty of many traditional party members who might not be happy with his late emergence after several years of building grassroots support to the other aspirants that lost out to him,” he added.
A Kano-based lawyer, Barrister Umar Usman Danbaito, has said the judgment of the Federal High Court ordering a fresh primary election for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State falls squarely within the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, which gives the court exclusive jurisdiction over pre-election matters.
Danbaito explained that the ruling is consistent with the law, as the Federal High Court has the mandate to determine whether irregularities occurred in the conduct of party primaries.
He said the only options available to the PDP candidate, Pantami, were either to accept the judgment and participate in the rerun or to exercise his right of appeal.
“The Electoral Act gives a political party the choice of either adopting consensus or conducting direct primaries. In this situation, if I am to advise Pantami, I will advise him to allow the electoral process to go on for the second time. He may still have the ability to win, but if he disagrees, he can appeal to the Court of Appeal and ultimately to the Supreme Court,” Danbaito said.
He noted that if the petitioner who challenged Pantami’s candidacy is able to establish his claim, the appellate court could even award him the mandate.
“That is why it is better for Pantami now to allow the rerun of the election to be carried out for the second time,” he added.
On whether the ruling has implications for the forthcoming general elections, the lawyer said it does not, stressing that the Electoral Act requires all pre-election matters to be concluded before the polls.
“Electoral Act clearly tells us that any pre-election matter should be heard and decided before the end of this month. So everything, including appeals, will be settled before the general election,” he explained.
Our correspondent recalls that a court has also nullified the APC primary election held on May 19, 2026, for the Zamfara North Senatorial District, ordering the party to conduct a fresh exercise within 14 days.
Justice Hassan Dikko who delivered the judgement virtually, set aside the primary after finding that the exercise was not conducted in accordance with the APC constitution and guidelines. Justice Dikko said.
