Breaking: INEC dumps another PDP governorship candidate from 2027 race
- INEC dropped Professor Isa Pantami from the final list of governorship candidates for Gombe State despite him winning a fresh primary
- The exclusion follows a Supreme Court judgment that reaffirmed key provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 on party membership registers
- The ruling requires parties to submit membership registers to INEC at least 21 days before primaries for candidates to qualify
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has left Professor Isa Pantami off its final list of governorship candidates for Gombe State, despite the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently conducting a fresh primary in which he emerged as its flagbearer.
Pantami's name was absent when INEC published the final list of governorship candidates for the state, a move that signals the commission does not consider his candidacy valid under current electoral law.
Why INEC excluded Pantami
INEC grounded its decision in the Supreme Court's ruling in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, which upheld the validity of Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022. That judgment reinforced the requirement that political parties must submit their membership registers to INEC no later than 21 days before conducting any primary, congress or convention.
Crucially, the court affirmed that only members whose names appear in a duly submitted register are eligible to vote or contest in such internal party exercises. Where a party fails to meet this condition, any primary conducted on that basis risks being rendered invalid, regardless of the outcome.
What this means for the Gombe PDP race
The implication for Pantami is significant. Even though the PDP held a fresh primary and he won, INEC's position appears to be that the process did not meet the statutory requirements set out in the Electoral Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. His exclusion from the final candidate list effectively bars him from contesting the Gombe governorship election under the PDP platform unless the matter is successfully challenged in court.
Pantami, a former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has been a prominent political figure in Gombe State and had positioned himself as a key contender for the governorship.
INEC has not publicly issued a detailed statement explaining the basis for Pantami's exclusion beyond what is implied by the applicable legal framework.
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Source: Legit.ng
