Pantami wins rerun PDP governorship primary in Gombe

Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami has won the rerun Peoples Democratic Party primary for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election. Pantami secured 2,054 votes in the exercise held across the state’s 11 local government areas on Tuesday. His challengers, Usman Garry and Hamisu Mailantarki, received 112 and 389 votes respectively.

The results were announced at the Gombe State PDP Secretariat by Temnung Shekarau, chairman of the party’s electoral committee. The committee said 2,555 voters were registered for the primary. The rerun followed a September 24 judgment by Justice Amina Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Gombe.

The court nullified the initial primary and ordered the PDP to hold a fresh exercise in line with its constitution. Pantami had originally been declared the party’s candidate on May 26 through voice affirmation. Garry and other aspirants challenged that process, arguing that it failed to comply with voting requirements under the Electoral Act and the PDP constitution.

The court directed the party to conduct a formal ballot-based primary within 30 days. The September 29 exercise produced Pantami as the winner and reaffirmed his position as the party’s candidate for the forthcoming election, according to the source material. Pantami moved to the PDP after losing the governorship ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress to consensus candidate Jamilu Gwamna.

His PDP candidacy is backed by the party faction associated with Nyesom Wike, according to the report.