Trouble For Pantami As Court Orders Fresh PDP Primary In Gombe

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been ordered to conduct a fresh governorship primary in Gombe State after the Federal High Court nullified the process that produced Prof. Isa Ali Pantami as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election.

Naija News reports that Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed gave the order on Thursday while delivering judgment in a suit filed by PDP governorship aspirant, Usman Aliyu Garry.

Garry had challenged Pantami’s emergence as the party’s candidate, arguing that the required primary election was not properly conducted.

The PDP had announced Pantami as its sole governorship candidate on June 26, 2026, after he joined the party from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Pantami had earlier been an APC governorship aspirant but left the party after the APC settled for Jamilu Gwamna as its consensus candidate.

He subsequently secured the PDP ticket through voice affirmation at the party’s governorship primary held in May.

Garry, however, went to court to challenge the process that produced Pantami, insisting that the required primary election was not conducted in line with the relevant rules.

The case was heard before Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed at the Federal High Court in Gombe.

In its judgment delivered on Thursday, the court ordered the PDP to organise a fresh governorship primary election in accordance with the party’s guidelines and relevant electoral laws.

The order affects the process through which Pantami emerged as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

The fresh primary will now determine the party’s candidate for the Gombe governorship race.