GOMBE, Nigeria — The immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has officially defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and secured the party’s gubernatorial ticket for the 2027 general elections.
Pantami emerged as the party’s flagbearer through a voice affirmation vote during a primary election held on Tuesday in Gombe, following his sudden exit from the ruling party.
Okay News reports that the Chairman of the PDP Electoral Panel, Hon. Gregory Yenlong, declared the former minister as the sole clearing aspirant for the opposition party’s ticket.
Speaking shortly after the declaration, Pantami stated that his entry into the gubernatorial race was driven by a deep commitment to public service, pledging to govern Gombe State with fairness, transparency, and justice if elected in 2027.
The political development sets up a high-stakes showdown between Pantami and Jamilu Gwamna, who recently emerged as the consensus candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. Pantami had strongly protested the APC’s selection process, withdrawing on the eve of the ruling party’s primaries while citing a severe lack of transparency.
His rapid transition into the PDP has already sparked internal friction. Ahead of Tuesday’s affirmation, four prominent PDP gubernatorial aspirants—Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry, and Mrs. Monica Kaltho—issued a joint communique condemning attempts to “smuggle” Pantami into the race after his participation in the APC pre-election processes.
Despite the pushback from rival aspirants, top PDP stakeholders and party delegates moved forward with the voice vote, cementing Pantami as the man to lead the party’s charge to reclaim the state.
