JUST IN: Pantami’s Gives INEC 3 Days To Publish His Name On Gombe Governorship List

Lawyers to Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Gombe State, have given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) three days to publish his name on the final list of candidates for the 2027 general election.

In a letter on Monday, addressed to the INEC Chairman, the legal team, led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria Ahmed Raji, A.T. Kehinde and Abdul Mohammed, protested the omission of Pantami’s name from the list published on October 10.

The lawyers described the omission as unlawful and unexplained, arguing that the electoral commission had no legal basis to exclude their client after he emerged as the PDP candidate in a fresh governorship primary conducted on September 29.

They demanded that INEC publish Pantami’s name by Wednesday, October 14, and circulate it with the same prominence as the names of other candidates.

According to the letter, Pantami participated in the PDP’s original governorship primary on May 26, 2026, and emerged as the winner. His nomination was subsequently challenged in two suits before the Federal High Court in Gombe.

In judgments delivered on September 24, the court nullified the May 26 primary over issues relating to its conduct and directed the PDP to conduct a fresh exercise within 30 days.

However, the lawyers maintained that the court had resolved the challenges to Pantami’s party membership and eligibility against the plaintiffs in both cases.

They cited the judgments, which held that the plaintiffs had not established that Pantami was ineligible for membership or sponsorship by the PDP, despite disputes over his name in the party’s membership register.

The legal team argued that the restriction applied to the nullified primary and did not prevent INEC from recognising the outcome of the fresh exercise conducted in compliance with the court’s orders.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that the name of Professor Pantami was missing from the INEC final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election released on Saturday.

Citing previous court decisions, including Dingyadi v. INEC and Raymond v. INEC, the lawyers argued that the removal of a nominated candidate’s name was a judicial act and that INEC’s role in party primaries was to observe, monitor and report on the process rather than independently disqualify candidates.

They urged the commission to take immediate corrective action and confirm in writing the steps taken to address the omission.