INEC’s Gombe List Omits PDP and Pantami

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has published its final candidate list for Gombe State’s February 6, 2027, governorship election, omitting both the Peoples Democratic Party and its reported nominee, Isa Ali Pantami. The list names 16 candidates, according to the published roster. The list includes candidates from the African Democratic Congress, All Progressives Congress, Nigerian Democratic Congress, Labour Party, APM, PRP and SDP, among others. It does not include Pantami, a former minister of communications and digital economy, or any PDP candidate for Gombe. Pantami had won the PDP’s initial nomination, but a Federal High Court in Gombe nullified that primary and ordered the party to hold another. He won the rerun on September 29, according to the reports. The court proceedings therefore preceded his omission from INEC’s final list. The published list provides no explanation for leaving out Pantami and the PDP. INEC has not been reported as stating whether the omission resulted from membership-register compliance, the court proceedings or another issue. The available information also does not establish Pantami’s final eligibility to contest.