The name of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, is absent from the final list of candidates cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the February 6, 2027, governorship election in Gombe State.
INEC released the list containing 16 candidates, including Bala Bello Tinka of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Babayo Ardo Kumo of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Other candidates on the list are Zubairu Muโazu Halilu of the Labour Party, Lamela L. Silas of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Ibrahim Jalo Abubakar of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Adamu Mohammed Maโaji of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), among others.
Pantamiโs exclusion is notable because his name featured on INECโs provisional list published on August 29.
The former minister had emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate after defecting from the APC on May 19.
However, his initial emergence as the partyโs candidate was challenged in court, with a Federal High Court nullifying the primary election and ordering a fresh exercise.
Pantami subsequently won the court-ordered rerun primary conducted on September 29, polling 2,054 votes to defeat Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry.
Earlier, a Federal High Court sitting in Gombe had, on September 24, nullified his initial emergence from the May 26 primary election.
His candidacy also faced uncertainty following the Supreme Courtโs September 24 judgment restoring Sections 77(5), (6), (7) and 84(2) of the Electoral Act 2026.
The provisions became central to questions surrounding the eligibility of political parties and their candidates ahead of the 2027 elections.
The Supreme Court had barred political parties from fielding candidates whose names were not included in the membership registers submitted to INEC within the stipulated period.
Pantamiโs absence from the final list raises questions about the status of his governorship ambition following the legal disputes surrounding his emergence as the PDP candidate.
