It Is Not A Matter For Debate; Dr Isa Ibrahim Pantami Is Not Qualified To Contest The Gombe PDP Guber Primary Election For The 2027 Elections

By Dr Abubakar Alkali

⁠-__If the PDP makes the mistake of presenting Dr Isa Pantami as its Guber candidate for the 2027 elections, it risks the ‘Zamfara effect’ as the Courts will upturn any victory of the PDP in the Gombe Guber election. __

– _By the judgement of the FHC and the SC, It is now obligatory for INEC to remove Dr Isa Pantami’s name from the list of candidates for the 2027 elections and for the PDP to remove his name from the list of aspirants for next Tuesday’s Guber primary election. Any contrary action by the PDP will jeopardise not only the Guber ticket but also the chances of other Gombe PDP candidates for the 2027 general elections viz senators, House of Representatives and state houses of assembly. ___

– ⁠Options for Dr Isa Pantami; Surat Al-Talaq (65;3);

وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمْرِهِۦ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدْرًا

CONTEXT;

The combined effect of the judgement delivered by justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed of the federal high court sitting in Gombe on 24/9/26 in respect of the suit instituted by Khamis Mailantarki & ORS and the ruling of the Supreme Court on the same date in the suit instituted by the ZLP, has effectively foreclosed any chances of Dr Isa Pantami’s name appearing on the ballot for the

PDP Guber primary election scheduled for this Tuesday 29/9/26.

By section 77(4) of the electoral act 2026 (as copy edited), political parties must submit their membership register at least 21 days before holding their party primary elections. This is not by coincidence, rather it is to stop the back-door entry of surreptitious candidates who seek to usurp the chances of established party members who worked hard for their victory and made sacrifices for their parties over a reasonable period.

The PDP said it held its purported Gombe Guber primary election on 29th May 2026, which means the party must have submitted its membership register to INEC by 8th May 2026 to satisfy the mandatory 21 days requirement under section 77(4) of the electoral act 2026 (as amended).

29-21 =8th May 2026.

Indeed, the courts will overturn any PDP victory in the Gombe Guber election with Dr Pantami on the ballot for the simple fact that Dr Isa Pantami registered as a card carrying member of the PDP on the 19th May 2026, a clear 9 days after the PDP has already submitted the original copy of its membership register to INEC.

Impliedly, Dr Pantami’s name is not in the original PDP membership register submitted to INEC as required by law hence he is not qualified to contest the PDP guber primary election scheduled for next Tuesday 29/9/26.

Again for emphasis, if the PDP makes a deliberate error to present Dr Isa Pantami in next Tuesday’s Gombe Guber primary election, Zamfara (2019) will repeat itself.

Options for Dr Isa Pantami; The option for Dr Isa Pantami is to accept this unanimous verdict as fate (Al-Qadr) as Allah (SWT) has enjoined all believers. In Islam, accepting the destiny of good and evil is an article of faith.

In fact Allah (SWT) has enjoined all believers to accept their fate in good faith as NOTHING happens without Allah’s will. EVERYTHING IS DESTINY.

Indeed, this is further underscored in Surat Al-Talaq 65:3:

وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمْرِهِۦ ۚ قَدْ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدْرًا

‘And He will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah—then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent’