No fewer than four four governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have rejected what they described as an attempt to “smuggle” former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, into the party’s governorship primary race.
Key Highlights:
- Four PDP governorship aspirants in Gombe State rejected alleged moves to bring former minister Isa Pantami into the party’s primary.
- The aspirants — Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Usman Aliyu Garry, and Monica Kaltho — issued a communiqué after an emergency meeting in Gombe.
- They argued Pantami, who reportedly participated in the All Progressives Congress primary, cannot legally defect and contest in the PDP process.
- They warned that allowing such participation could violate electoral rules and trigger legal disputes.
- The group urged PDP leaders, including former governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, to protect internal party democracy.
The aspirants — Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Usman Aliyu Garry, and Monica Kaltho, made their position known in a communiqué issued on Sunday following an emergency meeting in Gombe.
According to the communiqué, the aspirants argued that Pantami, who participated in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary on May 21, 2026, cannot legally defect to the PDP and take part in its ongoing governorship primary process.
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“The law does not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and subsequently contest the same election process,” the statement read.
While affirming that the PDP remains open to new members, the aspirants insisted they “strongly object” to the inclusion of any individual who had already contested a similar primary election under another political platform.
They also appealed to party stakeholders, including former Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, to avoid actions that could undermine internal party democracy or expose the PDP to legal disputes ahead of the governorship election.
“We urge party leaders to avoid actions capable of undermining the rule of law or exposing the party to avoidable litigation,” the communiqué added.
