Supreme Court Ruling: Pantami Still Eligible For Gombe PDP Primary, Supporters Insist

Supporters of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, have insisted that the latest Supreme Court judgment does not affect his bid to contest the 2027 Gombe State governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Their position followed two separate court judgments on Thursday, when the Supreme Court restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 relating to party membership registers and candidate nominations, while the Federal High Court in Gombe nullified the PDP primary that produced Pantami and ordered the party to conduct a fresh governorship primary.

The Pantamiyya Movement, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Ibrahim M. Alfathir, said it accepted the Federal High Court judgment and maintained that the ruling did not disqualify Pantami from participating in another PDP primary. The movement said claims that Pantami had been excluded from the race were misleading, stressing that its members and supporters should remain calm and law-abiding pending the fresh primary. The group said Pantami would participate in the new exercise as directed by the court.

LEADERSHIP reports that the development followed Pantami’s political journey from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP. Pantami initially pursued the APC governorship ticket but withdrew from the party’s primary in May, citing alleged irregularities, before resigning from the APC and joining the PDP.

He subsequently emerged through the PDP’s May 26 governorship process, which was later challenged in court. The Federal High Court, while nullifying that primary, did not bar Pantami from participating in a fresh contest. Reports of the judgment also indicate that the court did not grant the request to invalidate his PDP membership based on his previous APC affiliation.

The PDP has since fixed Tuesday, September 29, 2026, for the fresh Gombe governorship primary and cleared Pantami, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry to participate. The party also said the Supreme Court’s latest decision did not affect Pantami’s eligibility for the rescheduled primary.

For Pantami supporters, including Abdullahi Mohammed, Suwaiba Musa and others, neither the Federal High Court judgment nor the latest Supreme Court ruling has ended his ambition to seek the Gombe State governorship. Their position is that Pantami remains eligible to participate in the fresh PDP contest.

Attempts to obtain further comments from Pantami’s spokespersons were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. However, Barrister Attahir has told LEADERSHIP of their readiness to participate in a fresh PDP primary after both court rulings. He rejected claims that Pantami had been excluded or disqualified from contesting. He urged Pantami’s supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, while directing them not to continue portraying Pantami as the PDP candidate pending the fresh primary ordered by the court.

The latest Supreme Court judgment on Nigeria’s electoral laws has, in its Thursday ruling, restored Sections 77(5), 77(6), 77(7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which deal principally with political party membership registers and the nomination of candidates.

Under Section 77(5), the apex court ruled that only members whose names are contained in a political party’s membership register submitted to INEC at least 21 days before a primary, congress or convention are eligible to participate in the exercise.

A seven-member Supreme Court panel led by Justice Adamu Jauro, in a unanimous judgment, upheld an appeal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and reversed an earlier Court of Appeal decision that had voided the disputed provisions. The Supreme Court held that the provisions were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.