Former Nigeria Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has officially defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress to the Peoples Democratic Party and emerged as the PDP governorship candidate for the 2027 election in Gombe State.
Pantami secured the party’s ticket during the PDP governorship primary election held in Gombe on Tuesday. The exercise ended with a voice affirmation after party officials confirmed him as the sole aspirant for the contest.
Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Gregory Yenlong, formally declared Pantami the winner and presented him as the party’s flag bearer ahead of the 2027 governorship election in the state.
Addressing party supporters after his emergence, Pantami said his decision to contest for governor was motivated by a desire to contribute to the development of Gombe State and improve the welfare of its people. He promised to run an inclusive administration anchored on justice, fairness and equal opportunities for all residents if elected.
His emergence has now set the stage for a major political showdown with Jamilu Gwamna, who earlier emerged as the governorship candidate of the APC for the same election cycle.
Before leaving the APC, Pantami had openly criticised the process that produced Gwamna as the party’s consensus candidate. He had initially pushed for a transparent primary election but later withdrew from the race on the eve of the APC primary, alleging irregularities and lack of openness in the selection process.
Pantami’s defection to the PDP, however, sparked tension within the opposition party as four governorship aspirants Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Usman Aliyu Garry and Monica Kaltho protested what they described as attempts to impose the former minister on the party.
In a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting in Gombe, the aggrieved aspirants argued that allowing a politician who had participated in another party’s governorship process to contest under a different platform within the same electoral cycle could undermine the credibility of the PDP primary. Despite the objections, party stakeholders rallied behind Pantami and endorsed his candidacy, paving the way for his emergence as the PDP standard bearer for the 2027 governorship race in Gombe State.
