BREAKING: Pantami Dumps APC For PDP, Clinches Gombe Governorship Ticket Amid Defection Controversy

Gombe State– Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State after defecting from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Pantami secured the PDP ticket through a voice affirmation during the party’s governorship primary election held on Tuesday in Gombe.

The Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Hon. Gregory Yenlong, declared Pantami the sole aspirant for the exercise before announcing him as the party’s flagbearer for the 2027 governorship election.

Speaking shortly after his emergence, Pantami said his decision to contest was driven by his desire to serve the people of Gombe State.

He promised to govern with fairness, justice and inclusiveness if elected governor in 2027.

“I am in this race to offer service to the people of Gombe State. By the grace of God, if elected, I will ensure fairness and justice for all,” he said.

Pantami’s emergence now sets the stage for a fierce political battle against the APC governorship candidate, Jamilu Gwamna, ahead of the 2027 election.

His emergence on the PDP platform comes weeks after a dramatic fallout within the APC over the party’s governorship primary process.

Pantami had openly rejected the consensus arrangement that produced Gwamna as the APC candidate.

He initially pushed for direct primaries but later withdrew from the contest on the eve of the election, citing alleged lack of transparency in the process.

The former minister’s defection to the PDP had already sparked controversy within the opposition party.

Four PDP governorship aspirants had earlier accused some party stakeholders of plotting to “smuggle” Pantami into the race despite his participation in the APC primary process.

In a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting in Gombe on Sunday, the aggrieved aspirants — Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry and Mrs Monica Kaltho — argued that electoral laws do not permit a politician to contest primaries in one political party and subsequently defect to another party to participate in the same election cycle.

The aspirants insisted that while the PDP remained open to welcoming new members, the party should not allow an individual who had already participated in another party’s primary election to contest its governorship ticket.

Despite the objections, PDP stakeholders on Tuesday rallied behind Pantami and adopted him as the party’s candidate through affirmation.