Four governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State have opposed an alleged move by former Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, to defect to the party and contest its governorship primaries.
A communiqué issued on Sunday and jointly signed by Alhaji Abdulkadir Hamma Saleh, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, Usman Aliyu Garry, and Monica Kaltho warned that such a move could trigger legal disputes and undermine the party’s internal processes.
The aspirants said they had unanimously agreed to allow the party leadership to pick a consensus candidate from among them for the forthcoming governorship election.
They said the decision was taken in consultation with the party leadership in Gombe State, including former governor and party leader, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the State Executive Committee, local government party chairmen, and the Elders Committee.
According to the communiqué, the aspirants also signed an undertaking to abide by the collective decision of the party leadership as a show of loyalty, discipline, and commitment to party unity.
The PDP governorship hopefuls, however, expressed concern over rumours that Pantami, who reportedly participated in the All Progressives Congress governorship primary on May 21, 2026, may be seeking to join the PDP and contest its primary.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the alleged attempt to smuggle into the PDP primaries an aspirant
who, by law and established democratic principles, is ineligible to participate,” the communiqué stated.
The aspirants argued that electoral laws and democratic norms do not allow a person to contest the same election cycle in two different political parties after already participating in one party’s primary.
While saying the PDP remains open to new members, they insisted that allowing someone who had already contested another party’s primary into the PDP race at this stage could expose the party to avoidable litigation.
They urged the party leadership to avoid actions that could undermine the rule of law or create internal divisions, warning that any controversial decision could invite legal challenges from party stakeholders or opposition parties.
