Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, has secured the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship ticket for Gombe State after winning the party’s primary rerun.
Pantami polled 2,054 votes in the direct primary held across the 11 local government areas of the state, defeating his challengers, Khamisu Mailantarki and Aliyu Usman Garry, who recorded 389 and 112 votes respectively.
The result was announced at the PDP state secretariat in Gombe by the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Rerun Committee, Johnbull Shekarau, who declared Pantami the winner.
The rerun followed a Federal High Court judgment that nullified the earlier primary which produced Pantami as the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
In the judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, Justice Amina Aliyu ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh governorship primary within 30 days, ruling that the previous exercise did not comply with the party’s internal regulations and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The case was instituted by governorship aspirants Khamisu Mailantarki and Aliyu Usman Garry, who challenged the process that led to Pantami’s emergence at the party’s initial primary on May 26, 2026.
The court, however, rejected a request seeking Pantami’s disqualification from the contest or expulsion from the PDP over allegations that he was still a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the judgment, the PDP fixed September 29 for the fresh primary and cleared Pantami, Mailantarki and Garry to participate.
Pantami had initially emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate at the May 2026 primary through voice affirmation before the process was challenged in court.
