Why We Suspended 2 Pantami’s Challengers – Gombe PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State said it suspended two of its governorship aspirants, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Usman Aliyu Garry, for one month over alleged anti-party activities following Tuesday’s rerun primary.

The suspension was contained in a statement by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Abdulkadir Ahmad Dukku.

According to the statement dated September 30, the decision was reached at an emergency joint meeting involving the PDP State Working Committee and ward executives of Dawaki and Herwagana, where Mailantarki and Garry are members.

The party accused the two governorship aspirants of misconduct and violating its constitution, alleging that their actions after participating in the September 29 governorship rerun were capable of causing division and confusion among party members.

The PDP cited comments made by Mailantarki in an interview with journalists after the primary, where he rejected the result announced by the party and declared himself the winner of the election.

The development followed the declaration of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, as winner of the rerun.

LEADERSHIP had earlier reported that both Mailantarki and Garry rejected the declaration of Pantami as a winner of the rerun, questioning Pantami’s eligibility to participate in the exercise.

Garry had also expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of the primary, including alleging that voting did not take place as expected in his area.

The rerun was conducted after the Federal High Court in Gombe, on September 24, nullified the party’s earlier governorship primary and ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh exercise within 30 days.

The PDP said the two aspirants had willingly accepted to participate in the fresh primary but subsequently engaged in conduct it considered contrary to the party’s rules.