 governorship candidateq for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election, after){kind=link}
By Abdullahi Inuwa
Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidateq for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election, after securing victory in the party’s fresh primary held on Tuesday.
Pantami’s latest victory gives his campaign a renewed political footing after the PDP was compelled to return to the drawing board following a court decision that nullified the party’s earlier governorship primary.
The former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy reportedly polled 245 votes, ahead of Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, who scored 47 votes, while Usman Aliyu Garry received 15 votes, bringing the total votes cast to 307.
The result places Pantami at the centre of the PDP’s preparations for what is expected to be a closely watched contest for the Gombe Government House in 2027.
But beyond the figures, the significance of Pantami’s emergence lies in the unusual political journey that brought the PDP to Tuesday’s fresh primary.
The former minister had initially emerged as the PDP governorship candidate after joining the opposition party following his unsuccessful attempt to secure the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress.
His first emergence, however, became the subject of a legal challenge.
A Federal High Court sitting in Gombe subsequently nullified the earlier PDP primary and ordered the party to conduct a fresh exercise in accordance with its constitution, guidelines and applicable electoral provisions. The development temporarily reopened the party’s governorship race and placed Pantami, Mailantarki and Garry back in direct competition.
The PDP thereafter announced September 29 for the repeat primary and cleared the three aspirants to participate.
That background makes Tuesday’s result different from Pantami’s earlier emergence.
Whereas his first selection came through a voice affirmation that was later challenged in court, the fresh exercise was organised after the court-directed reopening of the contest, with the three cleared aspirants given another opportunity to seek the party’s ticket.
For Pantami, the new result therefore represents another step in his attempt to convert his movement into the PDP into a full-scale governorship campaign.
The political implications extend beyond the former minister himself.
The PDP now faces the task of consolidating its internal structure around its newly selected candidate. Primary elections often settle one stage of a political contest while opening another: reconciliation with unsuccessful aspirants, mobilisation of party structures and the broader effort to present a unified campaign platform before the general election.
Mailantarki and Garry now have to decide how they respond to the outcome within the party’s political and legal framework.
Their participation in the fresh primary was particularly important because the earlier process had generated litigation. Reports on the court proceedings said Garry challenged the validity of the process that produced Pantami, while the court directed the PDP to conduct another primary.
The outcome also puts renewed attention on Pantami’s political profile.
As a former federal minister with a national public profile, his candidacy gives the PDP a candidate whose political activities have extended beyond Gombe State. His task now moves from securing the party ticket to building a campaign capable of reaching voters across the state’s various political constituencies.
That transition will require more than the enthusiasm generated by a primary victory.
The PDP will have to manage internal relationships, communicate its programme to voters and organise effectively across Gombe’s local government areas.
At the same time, the wider 2027 contest will inevitably bring scrutiny of Pantami’s record in public office, his political positions and the issues he intends to place at the centre of his campaign.
For voters, the emerging contest will provide an opportunity to compare the programmes, records and priorities presented by the competing political parties and candidates.
Pantami’s emergence also changes the conversation within the PDP from “Who will secure the ticket?” to “How will the party build around its candidate?”
That shift could become one of the defining political developments in Gombe as the 2027 election approaches.
However, the legal history surrounding the nomination means the party’s next steps will remain important. Reports on the fresh primary have noted that the previous court proceedings affected the earlier nomination process, while the PDP has maintained that Pantami was eligible to participate in the repeat primary.
For now, the immediate political fact is clear: Pantami has secured the PDP governorship ticket in the fresh primary, according to the announced result.
His victory closes one chapter of the party’s internal contest and opens another — the much broader race to persuade Gombe voters.
The road to 2027 has therefore entered a new phase, with Pantami carrying the PDP flag and the party facing the challenge of turning its renewed mandate into a cohesive statewide campaign.
About The Author
