Rival aspirants have protested the nomination of the immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, as the governorship candidate of the Nyesom Wike faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State.
Mr Pantami, who defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in protest against irregularities in the party’s governorship primary, joined the PDP early this week and was nominated as the governorship candidate by voice affirmation on Tuesday in Gombe.
His affirmation came despite protests against his participation in the primary by the aspirants he met in the PDP, who insisted he could not participate in the party’s primary after contesting in the APC.
In a communiqué issued after an emergency meeting held on Sunday in Gombe, four aspirants — Abdulkadir Saleh, Khamisu Mailantarki, Usman Garry, and Monica Kaltho — argued that electoral laws do not permit a candidate to contest for nomination in different parties in the same election cycle.
However, during Tuesday’s gathering, party stakeholders endorsed Mr Pantami by voice vote, signalling the party’s confidence in his candidacy ahead of the governorship election.
