By Taibat Ummi Yakubu

Former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) three days to include his name on the final list of candidates for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election, threatening legal action over his exclusion.

Pantami, through his lawyers, Ahmed Raji & Co., accused the electoral commission of unlawfully omitting his name from the list published on October 10, 2026, despite his emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in a fresh governorship primary conducted on September 29.

In a letter dated October 12 and addressed to the INEC chairman, the legal team demanded that the commission publish Pantami’s name as the PDP candidate on or before Wednesday, October 14. The letter was signed by lead counsel Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who maintained that his client had fulfilled the necessary requirements to contest the election.

According to the lawyers, Pantami is a registered PDP member in Pantami Ward, Gombe State, and had purchased the party’s expression of interest and nomination forms, undergone screening and secured clearance to participate in the primary process. They said he initially won the party’s governorship primary on May 26, 2026, after which the PDP submitted his personal particulars, including Form EC9, to INEC on August 8. The commission subsequently published his name on August 29 in line with Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

However, the outcome of the May primary was challenged in two separate cases before the Federal High Court in Gombe, with the plaintiffs disputing Pantami’s membership of the PDP. Raji said the court resolved the membership dispute in Pantami’s favour in judgments delivered on September 24, 2026.

The legal team explained that the court, while nullifying the May 26 primary over issues concerning its conduct, directed the PDP to organise another primary within 30 days. The order, according to the lawyers, required the party to give all aspirants cleared on May 14 an opportunity to participate in the fresh exercise.

The lawyers said the PDP complied with the directive, notified INEC and conducted the new primary on September 29 under the observation of commission officials. Pantami reportedly won the contest again, securing his position as the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.

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They also cited the court’s position that the absence of Pantami’s name from an exhibit tendered in one of the cases did not conclusively establish that he was not a PDP member. The court, according to the letter, noted that political party membership ordinarily falls within the internal affairs of the party.

Against this background, Pantami’s lawyers questioned why INEC left his name out of the final candidates’ list released on October 10, arguing that the commission had failed to provide any explanation for the decision.

“We have our Client’s firm and unequivocal instructions to demand that the Commission, on or before Wednesday, October 14, publish and circulate the name of Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP for the office of Governor of Gombe State,” the letter stated.

The law firm urged INEC to urgently correct what it described as an unlawful omission and provide written confirmation of the steps taken to address the complaint.