Pantami wins rerun of PDP governorship primary in Gombe

Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Ali Pantami has won the Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship primary rerun in Gombe State, according to results announced by the party. Pantami received 2,054 votes in the direct primary conducted across the state’s 11 local government areas. Khamisu Mailantarki polled 389 votes, while Aliyu Garry received 112.

Johnbull Shekarau, chairman of the PDP Governorship Primary Rerun Committee, collated and announced the results at the party’s state secretariat in Gombe and declared Pantami the winner. The rerun followed a Federal High Court judgment that nullified the earlier process through which Pantami had emerged as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election. The judgment ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary within 30 days.

Justice Amina Aliyu delivered the judgment on September 24, 2026. The court held that the first primary had not complied with the PDP’s internal regulations and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026. The legal challenge was brought by Mailantarki and Garry, who contested the process that led to Pantami’s emergence at the party’s initial primary on May 26, 2026.

Pantami had initially been declared the winner through voice affirmation. The court declined a request to disqualify Pantami or remove him from the PDP over allegations that he remained a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress at the time. The supplied material does not indicate that the court made a finding that he was an APC member.

After the judgment, the PDP scheduled the rerun for September 29 and cleared Pantami, Mailantarki and Garry to participate. The newly announced result gives Pantami another nomination from the party, although the supplied report does not state whether any fresh challenge has been filed.