Pantami: PDP Fixes Tuesday For Fresh Gombe Governorship Primary 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State has scheduled a fresh governorship primary for Tuesday, September 29.

This would be just five days after a Federal High Court nullified the process that produced Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election.

The decision was contained in a statement by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Abdulkadir Ahmed Dukku, on Friday.

The statement directed eligible PDP members to assemble at their respective ward areas on Tuesday to vote for the governorship aspirant of their choice.

The development follows Thursday’s judgment of the Federal High Court in Gombe, which set aside the party’s May 26 governorship primary and ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh exercise in line with its guidelines and applicable electoral laws. The court also barred Pantami from continuing to present himself as the party’s governorship candidate.

Pantami, a former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, had initially sought the APC governorship ticket. However, on May 19, he withdrew from the party’s scheduled primary, saying he was protesting alleged violations of the Electoral Act and what he described as inadequate transparency in the process.

He later emerged as the PDP’s governorship candidate, a process Usman Aliyu Garry challenged.

The judgment was delivered on Thursday and eventually nullified the process that produced Pantami and ordered the PDP to conduct another primary in accordance with its the party’s guidelines.

The PDP’s spokesperson said that the party has opted to implement the order almost immediately. The PDP called on the party’s card-carrying members and eligible voters to vote for an aspirant of their choice.