Four governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have rejected an alleged move to bring former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, into the party’s governorship primary race ahead of the 2027 elections.
The aspirants Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs. Monica Kaltho, made their position known in a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting held on Sunday in Gombe.
They alleged that there were ongoing plans to “smuggle” Pantami into the PDP after he had already participated in the governorship primary election of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted on May 21, 2026.
According to the communiqué, the aspirants argued that democratic principles and provisions of the Electoral Act do not permit an aspirant to defect from one political party to another and still participate in the same electoral process after previously contesting and securing votes in another party’s primary election.
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“Following the rumoured attempt by an aspirant, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, who participated in the recently concluded governorship primaries of the APC, to defect to the PDP with the sole aim of contesting in our party’s governorship primaries, we deem it necessary to make our position known,” the communiqué stated.
The aspirants condemned what they described as any attempt to allow Pantami to participate in the PDP governorship primary, warning that such a development could expose the party to avoidable legal battles and political complications ahead of the election.
They further cautioned that any action capable of undermining due process and the rule of law could trigger litigation from aggrieved members within the party as well as opposition political parties.
The communiqué also disclosed that the four aspirants had unanimously agreed to allow the PDP leadership in Gombe State to select one among them as a consensus candidate for the governorship election.
According to them, the decision was taken out of respect for the leadership of former Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, whom they described as the leader of the PDP in the state, alongside the party structure across the 11 local government areas and members of the elders committee.
While reiterating that the PDP remains open to new entrants and political stakeholders willing to join the party, the aspirants maintained that they strongly oppose the inclusion of any individual who had already participated in another party’s governorship primary election.