A governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State, Kamisu Mailantarki, has dismissed the reported endorsement of former Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami, as the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
Pantami was recently announced as the PDP’s preferred governorship candidate through a consensus arrangement within the party.
Speaking in Gombe on Tuesday, Mailantarki criticised the process that led to Pantami’s emergence, describing it as inconsistent with the agreement earlier reached among aspirants and party leaders.
According to him, aspirants including Abdulkadir Saleh, Usman Aliyu, and Monica Kaltho had already completed the party’s requirements such as purchasing nomination forms, undergoing screening, and consulting delegates ahead of the planned primary election.
He explained that the primary was initially scheduled for May 24 before it was later postponed to May 26.
Mailantarki noted that reports later emerged indicating that Pantami had joined the PDP and was interested in contesting for the governorship ticket. He added that although the aspirants welcomed Pantami into the party, concerns were raised over the timing of his entry into the race.
He further stated that party leaders advised all aspirants to embrace a consensus arrangement in order to maintain unity within the PDP.
According to Mailantarki, the aspirants agreed to support any candidate chosen from among them for the sake of party harmony. However, he alleged that another process was eventually carried out without the participation of the other aspirants and key stakeholders.
He stressed that his objection was not directed at any individual but was based on the need for fairness and proper adherence to the party’s procedures.
Pantami recently left the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP after failing to secure the APC governorship ticket.