…Warn that action may trigger legal crisis
Governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have kicked against what they described as “an attempt to smuggle” former minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, into the party’s ongoing governorship primaries.
The PDP Governorship aspirants warned that any violation of due process could result in serious legal challenges from concerned party members and even opposition parties.
And as a means of ensuring total blockade of Pantami from vying for the governorship ticked of the PDP, the aspirants said they have resolved in the interest of party unity and cohesion, to allow the leadership of the party in Gombe State to select one of them as a consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The aspirants that included Alhaji Abdulkadir-Hamma Saleh, Monica Kaltho, Usman-Aliyu Garry, and Hon. Khamisu-Ahmed Mailantarki, in a joint statement after their meeting, noted that Pantami having participated in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship primary held on May 21, 2026, cannot lawfully defect to the PDP and seek to participate in another governorship primary for the same election cycle.
The position of the Governorship aspirants on the platform of the PDP is coming few days after Pantami withdraw from the All Progressives Congress governorship primaries in which he alleged irregularities from previous primary election as reason for his withdrawal.
The aspirants noted that they had earlier signed a written undertaking committing themselves to abide by the decision of the party leadership.
The statement further said; “An agreement was reached in respect and deference to the leadership of our great party, particularly the leader of the PDP in the state, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, alongside the State Executive Committee, the 11 Local Government Chairmen, and the Elders Committee.
“We therefore condemn in the strongest terms the alleged attempt to smuggle into the PDP primaries an aspirant who, by law and established democratic principles, is ineligible to participate, having already contested in the APC governorship primaries held on 21st May, 2026.
“The law does not permit a candidate to defect from one political party to another and subsequently contest the same election process after votes have already been cast and counted in his favour in another party’s primaries,” the aspirants stated.
They however, said that the PDP remains open to welcoming new members, but stressed that such individuals should not be allowed to participate in a primary process that is already at an advanced stage and warned the leadership of the party against actions capable of exposing the PDP to avoidable legal disputes.
They further said; “We strongly object to any attempt to involve such a person in the ongoing PDP gubernatorial primaries. We therefore call on the leadership of the party to be properly guided and to desist from promoting any action capable of undermining the rule of law or exposing the party to avoidable litigation”.
