Court Reserves Judgment on Pantami’s PDP Ticket

The Federal High Court in Gombe has reserved judgment in a suit challenging the emergence of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa-Ali Ibrahim Pantami, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for the 2027 election in Gombe State.

The case was filed by PDP governorship aspirant Aliyu Garry, who is asking the court to nullify Pantami’s nomination because the process leading to his emergence did not comply with the law.

Justice Amina-Aliyu Muhammad announced that judgment would be delivered on a later date after lawyers representing all parties adopted their final written addresses and concluded their arguments in the pre-election matter on Friday.

During the hearing, Garry’s counsel, Eko-Ejembi Eko, urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought by his client, insisting that the case had merit and should succeed.

On the other hand, Pantami’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mohammed Abdul and represented in court by Benjamin Sati, asked the court to dismiss the suit. They argued that Pantami’s emergence followed the provisions of the law and complied with the PDP’s internal guidelines.

After listening to both sides, Justice Muhammad praised the lawyers for conducting themselves professionally throughout the proceedings. She later reserved judgment and informed the parties that the date for the ruling would be communicated in due course.

Garry is challenging the validity of the primary election that produced Pantami as the PDP governorship candidate, maintaining that the process failed to meet legal requirements.

The development came barely one day after the same court also reserved judgment in another suit filed by a different PDP governorship aspirant, Khamisu Mailantarki, who is equally contesting Pantami’s emergence.

Mailantarki is seeking an order nullifying the PDP governorship primary conducted on May 26, 2026, and directing the party to organise a fresh primary election.

Following Thursday’s hearing, Mailantarki’s lead counsel, Mustapha-Shaba Ibrahim (SAN), argued that the legal action became necessary because a person he described as not being a valid member of the PDP at the time of the primary was allowed to emerge as the party’s candidate.

He also explained that both parties had presented their arguments, including preliminary objections, and that the court had fixed the matter for judgment.

Reacting to the withdrawal of the second plaintiff, Monica Kaltho, Ibrahim said the decision would not affect the case because the first plaintiff, Mailantarki, remained before the court and continued to challenge the outcome of the primary election.

He further stated that the suit seeks a fresh governorship primary involving only the four recognised aspirants, arguing that Pantami should not participate because he was allegedly not a PDP member when the primary was held.

Counsel to the PDP, Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), also confirmed that the court had reserved judgment in Mailantarki’s case after all parties adopted their final written submissions.