Gombe 2027: PDP missing as INEC releases final list of candidates

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is absent from the final list of governorship candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election, amid a legal tussle over the party’s nomination of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.

INEC’s list, signed by the commission’s Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, and published on its website, contains candidates from 16 political parties, but does not include the PDP.

The parties listed are A, AAC, ADC, ADP, APC, APM, APP, DLA, LP, NDC, NDP, NNPP, NRM, PRP, SDP and ZLP.

The PDP’s omission comes after the Federal High Court in Gombe nullified the party’s initial governorship primary that produced Pantami on 24 September, following legal challenges by other aspirants, including Khamisu Mailantarki and Aliyu Usman Garry.

The court ordered the party to conduct a fresh primary election, which Pantami subsequently won on 29 September.

However, INEC’s published list does not explain why the PDP is missing, and it remains unclear whether the omission is connected to the court cases, the processing of the rerun primary results or another issue concerning the party’s nomination.

The commission’s remarks column is blank for all entries, providing no further explanation for the PDP’s absence.

Among the governorship tickets listed by INEC are the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, Gwamna Jamil Isyaku, with Balah Adams as running mate; the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ticket of Bala Bello and Aliyu Ngolmo Poyilma; the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidates, Ma’aji Adamu Muhammed and Magaji Ibrahim; and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) ticket of Abdullahi Maikano Umar and Victor Iliya Jatau.

The list shows that all 16 governorship candidates are men, aged between 35 and 72.

Of the 32 candidates and running mates listed, only two are women, both contesting as deputy governorship candidates: Samuel Joy of the DLA and Sulaiman Mariyatu Aliyu of the NDP.